ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF A NOVEL COMPOUND FROM WITHANIASOMNIFERA: IN VITRO STUDIES ON HIV-1 REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE INHIBITION

ABSTRACT

The emergence of drug-resistant strains of HIV-1 underscores the need for novel therapeutic agents with improved efficacy and safety profiles. Therefore, this study aims to assess the in vitro HIV-1 RT inhibition of active molecule isolated form W. somnifera. Crude extract was prepared from W. sominfera stem bark my using methanol solvent. Isolation and Purification was done using TLC, column chromatography techniques. Characterization of isolated compound was done with using spectral studies. HIV-1 RT inhibition of isolated compound was done. Cell viability against PBMC cells of isolated compound was performed with MTT assay. The compound exhibited a dosedependent inhibition of HIV-1 RT activity, with increasing percentages of inhibition observed at higher concentrations. At 50 µg/mL, Compound displayed a 31.5% inhibition, which progressively increased to 76.4% at 800 µg/mL. The IC50 value for Compound was determined to be 152 µg/mL, indicating the concentration at which 50% inhibition of HIV-1 RT activity is achieved. The isolated compound exhibited decreasing cell viability as the concentration increased, with values of 91%, 85.1%, 75.5%, 68.0%, and 65.4% at 50 µg/mL, 100 µg/mL, 200 µg/mL, 400 µg/mL, and 800 µg/mL, respectively. These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive assessment of compound activity, considering both antiviral potency against HIV-1 RT and cytotoxic effects on healthy cells.

Keywords: HIV-1 RT, W. somnifera, TLC, Column, Cell viability, MTT assay