Activity of in vitro anti-influenza virus of arctigenin

Object To observe in vitro inhibitory activity of arctigenin (ACT) against influenza A1 virus in order to make further verification of that ACT is an active constituent of Fructus Arctii for relieving exterior syndrome. Methods Madin darby canin kidney (MDCK) cell culture techniques were used for evaluating antiviral activity of ACT by hemagglutination assay with the influenza virus hemagglutination titer as index and for investigating the inhibitory effect of ACT on replication of influenza virus. Results The inhibition rates (%) of hemagglutination titer were 0.75, 87.5, and 100 at the ACT concentrations (mmol/L) of 6.7, 13.4, 26.8 and 53.6, respectively. Conclusion ACT has directly in vitro inhibitory effect against influenza virus' replication, and is an active constituent of Fructus Arctii for the relieving exterior syndrome. It is suitable and feasible to determine the quality control index as ACT content in Fructus Arctii to assess the quality of the herbal drug.