Inhibition of HIV-1 Replication by the Water-soluble Extract Mixture of Ricini Semen and Coptidis Rhizoma

Partially purified water-soluble extract mixture from Ricini and Coptidis (named as RIC) showed to be a potent inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) replication. RIC was evaluated for in vitro anti-HIV activity using SupTl and H9 cells infected by a recombinant virus (pSVCAT) containing chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene substituted for nef gene in the HIV-1 genome. RIC inhibited syncytiaformation of SupTl cells with a half maximal effective concentration, $IC_{50}$/, of 2.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mι and showed marked inhibition of CAT activity in the infected H9 cells and also suppressed reverse transcriptase (RT) activity in the supernatant of the infected H9 culture. However, RIC did not inhibit the activity of reverse transcriptase directly when it was mixed with the enzyme or with viral particles. Berberine, one of components of RIC, also showed similar anti-HIV activity as RIC did. The data suggest that there are active ingredients which mediate anti-HIV activity in RIC.