Abstract
Thirty-one species of medicinal plants used in the treatment of diseases of viral
origin in Yunnan Province of China were assayed for inhibition of Sindbis and murine
cytomegalovirus in mammalian cell cultures. Sixteen species displayed antiviral activity.
A compound, which exhibited long wavelength UV-mediated antiviral activity, was isolated
from leaves and twigs of Elsholtzia ciliata (Lamiaceae) using bioassay-guided fractionation and identified as the polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbon, fluoranthene. The discovery of an anthropogenic photosensitizer
with antiviral activity in a plant has implications in studies of plants as sources
of bioactive constituents.
