[The inhibitory effect of Chinese herb Phyllanthus on hepatitis B virus in vitro].

Seven preparations of different species of Chinese herb Phyllarthus with different formulations and additives were studied for their ability to inhibit hepatitis B virus DNA replication, that is the HBsAg and HBeAg expression in a HBV DNA-transfected cell line (2.2.15 cell). The results showed that all the drugs were effectively against HBV replication in vitro. Capsule 1 and tuo cha zhen zhu cao were found to be the most potent anti-HBV extracts of those examined. Both extracts decreased HBaAg expression by nearly 100% at the concentration of 500 mg/L without toxicity on cell growth. Southern blot showed that Capsule 1 inhibited HBV DNA replication in a dose-dependent manner. We observed further, that under similar dosage the drug inhibition to HBsAg and HBeAg expression was lower than that to HBV DNA replication, suggesting that the production of progeny virus particles not only were inhibited at the level of HBV DNA synthesis, but also was affected probably at the level of translation of viral mRNA.