Evaluation of ethanol extract of Punica granatum (Pomegranate) peel decrease in viral replication of BoHV-1 in Colorado murine embryos experimentally infected

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the reduction of viral replication (Colorado BoHV-1) in murine embryos after the treatment of ethanol extract of Punica granatum peel (PgEE). Swiss female mice aged 6 to 8 weeks were superovulated with 0.2 mL of the 5 UI hormones (eCG and hCG) and mated with males of the same age. After 18 hours, the females were euthanized in a CO2 chamber, and through the opening in the peritoneum, zygotes were collected and washed with 0.5% pronase solution. The zygotes were divided into four groups: G1 (control), G2 (exposed to the virus Colorado BoHV -1 to 108 TCID50/mL), G3 (exposed to PgEE) and G4 (exposed to the virus and to PgEE). The groups were maintained at 37.5ºC in TCM199 (100 mL) with 10% fetal bovine serum in an incubator at 5% CO2 and 95% humidity. After 24 h, we analyzed the cleavage rate (Fisher's exact test; p<0.05), the morphology (by light microscopy), the nested-PCR and the titration of embryos in co-culture with MDBK cells after over 72 h of treatment (Mann-Whitney test; p<0.05) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The murine embryos treated with PgEE showed satisfactory results: no morphological changes, cleavage rate similar to controls, despite the detection of the presence of virus by nested PCR and TEM, there was a decrease of the viral titer after the treatment with this extract, which suggests interference of this treatment in the viral cycle BoHV-1 Colorado without altering the embryo development.