Activities of Korean Medicinal Herbs and Traditional Prescriptions Against Herpes simplex Virus Type-1

In order to search for anti- herpes simplex virus (HSV) type-1 agents from Korean medicinal herbs and Korean traditional prescriptions (herb complexes), we selected 57 medicinal herbs and 13 prescriptions, based on a review of Korean traditional medicine books. Both methanol extracts and boiling-water extracts were tested by means of the MTT assay (tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay). Seven of the 70 methanol extracts (from three single herbs and four herb complexes), and six of the water extracts (four individual herbs and two complexes) showed efficacy against HSV. Prescription #11 was also interesting because both methanol and water extracts were active. Overall, the whole the prescriptions (herb complexes) were more potent than the individual herbs.