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Melissa officinalis oil affects infectivity of enveloped herpesviruses.
Phytomedicine. 2008 Sep; 15(9):734-40.P

Abstract

Extracts and essential oils of medicinal plants are increasingly of interest as novel drugs of antimicrobial and antiviral agents, since herpes simplex virus (HSV) might develop resistance to commonly used antiviral agents. Melissa officinalis essential oil was phytochemically examined by GC-MS analysis, its main constituents were identified as monoterpenaldehydes citral a, citral b and citronellal. The antiviral effect of lemon balm oil, the essential oil of Melissa officinalis, on herpes simplex virus was examined. The inhibitory activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) was tested in vitro on monkey kidney cells using a plaque reduction assay. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of balm oil for herpes simplex virus plaque formation was determined at high dilutions of 0.0004% and 0.00008% for HSV-1 and HSV-2, respectively. At noncytotoxic concentrations of the oil,plaque formation was significantly reduced by 98.8% for HSV-1 and 97.2% for HSV-2, higher concentrations of lemon balm oil abolished viral infectivity nearly completely. In order to determine the mode of antiviral action of this essential oil, time-on-addition assays were performed. Both herpesviruses were significantly inhibited by pretreatment with balm oil prior to infection of cells. These results indicate that Melissa oil affected the virus before adsorption, but not after penetration into the host cell, thus lemon balm oil is capable of exerting a direct antiviral effect on herpesviruses. Considering the lipophilic nature of lemon balm essential oil, which enables it to penetrate the skin, and a high selectivity index, Melissa officinalis oil might be suitable for topical treatment of herpetic infections.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Schnitzler P
Department of Virology, Hygiene Institute, University of Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Paul_Schnitzler@med.uni-heidelberg.de <Paul_Schnitzler@med.uni-heidelberg.de>
Schuhmacher A
No affiliation info available
Astani A
No affiliation info available
Reichling J
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AnimalsAntiviral AgentsCell LineHaplorhiniHerpesvirus 1, HumanHerpesvirus 2, HumanMelissaPlant OilsViral Plaque AssayVirulence

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

18693101

Citation

Schnitzler, P, et al. "Melissa Officinalis Oil Affects Infectivity of Enveloped Herpesviruses." Phytomedicine : International Journal of Phytotherapy and Phytopharmacology, vol. 15, no. 9, 2008, pp. 734-40.
Schnitzler P, Schuhmacher A, Astani A, et al. Melissa officinalis oil affects infectivity of enveloped herpesviruses. Phytomedicine. 2008;15(9):734-40.
Schnitzler, P., Schuhmacher, A., Astani, A., & Reichling, J. (2008). Melissa officinalis oil affects infectivity of enveloped herpesviruses. Phytomedicine : International Journal of Phytotherapy and Phytopharmacology, 15(9), 734-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2008.04.018
Schnitzler P, et al. Melissa Officinalis Oil Affects Infectivity of Enveloped Herpesviruses. Phytomedicine. 2008;15(9):734-40. PubMed PMID: 18693101.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Melissa officinalis oil affects infectivity of enveloped herpesviruses. AU - Schnitzler,P, AU - Schuhmacher,A, AU - Astani,A, AU - Reichling,Jürgen, PY - 2008/02/20/received PY - 2008/04/17/accepted PY - 2008/8/12/pubmed PY - 2008/10/17/medline PY - 2008/8/12/entrez SP - 734 EP - 40 JF - Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology JO - Phytomedicine VL - 15 IS - 9 N2 - Extracts and essential oils of medicinal plants are increasingly of interest as novel drugs of antimicrobial and antiviral agents, since herpes simplex virus (HSV) might develop resistance to commonly used antiviral agents. Melissa officinalis essential oil was phytochemically examined by GC-MS analysis, its main constituents were identified as monoterpenaldehydes citral a, citral b and citronellal. The antiviral effect of lemon balm oil, the essential oil of Melissa officinalis, on herpes simplex virus was examined. The inhibitory activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) was tested in vitro on monkey kidney cells using a plaque reduction assay. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of balm oil for herpes simplex virus plaque formation was determined at high dilutions of 0.0004% and 0.00008% for HSV-1 and HSV-2, respectively. At noncytotoxic concentrations of the oil,plaque formation was significantly reduced by 98.8% for HSV-1 and 97.2% for HSV-2, higher concentrations of lemon balm oil abolished viral infectivity nearly completely. In order to determine the mode of antiviral action of this essential oil, time-on-addition assays were performed. Both herpesviruses were significantly inhibited by pretreatment with balm oil prior to infection of cells. These results indicate that Melissa oil affected the virus before adsorption, but not after penetration into the host cell, thus lemon balm oil is capable of exerting a direct antiviral effect on herpesviruses. Considering the lipophilic nature of lemon balm essential oil, which enables it to penetrate the skin, and a high selectivity index, Melissa officinalis oil might be suitable for topical treatment of herpetic infections. SN - 1618-095X UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/18693101/Melissa_officinalis_oil_affects_infectivity_of_enveloped_herpesviruses_ L2 - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0944-7113(08)00112-8 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -