Antiviral activity of Sanicula europaea L. extracts on multiplication of human parainfluenza virus type 2

The antiviral activity of Sanicula europaea L. extracts against human parai nfluenza virus type 2 (HPIV-2) was examined, The extract prepared from the leaves of the plant and a fraction separated from the crude extract with ge l filtration chromatography were found to inhibit HPIV-2 replication withou t any toxic effect on Vero cells. The acidic fraction obtained from the cru de extract of S. europaea leaves was found to be the most active fraction w ith plaque inhibition assay at non-cytotoxic concentrations. Unfortunately, antiviral activity was not detected in the molecules purified from the cru de ethanol extract of Sanicula leaves. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons , Ltd,