AIDS TREATMENT NEWS No. 061 - July 29, 1988
John S. James

The first step in the study was to select the herbs. The researchers used a computerized database of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, compiled at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, to select the 27 herbs to test. Many others would also be appropriate for the same screening.

Then crude extracts were prepared by boiling "under reflux", meaning that special apparatus was used to condense and recirculate vapors. After further purification steps, the researchers ran tests to find the greatest concentration of each extract which was not toxic to the cells and did not inhibit their growth.

Then each of the 27 herbs was assayed by adding HIV to the cell cultures in the presence of the largest nontoxic concentra- tion of the extract. Every assay was repeated three times. To be considered as showing anti-HIV activity, every one of the three assays had to reduce the percent of infected cells by at least three standard deviations from the average value in control assays (which were done in quadruplicate).

For example, the herb which did best, Viola yedoensis, reduced the percentage of infected cells from 12.8 to zero in the first assay, from 3.8 to .4 in the second, and from 21.5 to extract not toxic to the cells.

The five best herbs were Arctium lappa L., Viola yedoensis, Andrographis paniculata, Lithospermum erythrorhizon, and Alter- nanthera philoxeroides. The other six which also passed the test in all three assays were Epimedium grandiflorum, Lonicera japonica, Woodwardia unigemmata, Senecio scandens, Coptis chinensis, and Prunella vulgaris.

The researchers studied one herb, Viola yedoensis, in greater depth. They found that it did not kill or inactivate HIV on direct exposure, did not induce interferon production by the cells, and did not inhibit herpes or other viruses against which it was tested. The mechanism of action against HIV is unknown.

Comments

The fact that a drug stops HIV infection in the laboratory does not mean that it will work in people. And in this experi- ment, the concentrations of herbal extracts tested -- the maximum concentration which did not harm the cells which the HIV was infecting -- was probably much higher than could be achieved in the body. Presumably blood levels were not measured because of the many obvious difficulties of conducting any human experimentation. If the researchers had set out to run human trials, their project would not have happened at all.

Yet despite this caution in interpreting the results, it seems clear that a medicine long used in humans and which almost completely stops infection of cells by HIV at a concentration harmless to the cells deserves a closer look. How will this research be carried out?

The authors stated in their paper that they do not have the expertise or facilities to isolate and identify the anti-HIV compounds. Drug companies could do this work. But even if one took an interest -- and few of even the largest pharmaceutical companies have any antiviral program -- it would take years to isolate the chemicals, learn how to manufacture and use them, and get them approved as drugs.

The alternative, of course, is to test the herbs themselves, with the help of herbalists familiar with them. Such a trial might be done through a community-based research organization such as New York's Community Research Initiative. That way the trial would meet all legal standards for protection of patients, and also meet scientific standards of good study design and data collection and analysis, so that the results would be credible.

In practice it will take a long time to get any such study going, because there are so few organizations now doing community-based trials, and so many candidate drugs to test. Meanwhile people are likely to try some of the herbs on their own; most if not all of those mentioned above are widely avail- able. Anyone trying herbs should at least check with herbalists, physicians, or other experts about dosage, precautions, and any other information on how to use them safely. Even though herbs are "natural", they are medicines and must be used appropriately.

For More Information

For more information on screening the herbs for anti-HIV activity, see R. Shihman Chang and H. W. Yeung, "Inhibition Of Growth Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus By Crude Extracts OF Chinese Medicinal Herbs", Antiviral Research, 9 (1988), pages 163-176.

Note that we have only reviewed the article here. We have not interviewed the authors, or herbalists or other experts. We hope that others, perhaps an organization of herbalists or of persons interested in AIDS treatments, will look further into these potential treatments. We do not know of anyone following up these leads at this time.

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