Published online Mar 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i11.2941
Revised: November 1, 2013
Accepted: November 18, 2013
Published online: March 21, 2014
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global health concern which is responsible for most of the liver diseases. Currently, there is no vaccine available for prevention of HCV infection due to the high degree of strain variation. The current standard of care is a combination of pegylated interferon α with ribavirin and boceprevir/telaprevir. This treatment was partially effective and had significant side effects. Hence, there is a need to develop new antiviral agents that interfere with different stages of the HCV life cycle. Recent advances in the understanding of both the cellular and molecular mechanisms of HCV replication have provided the basis for novel therapeutic strategies. Several hundred plant species and their phyto-constituents have been isolated for screening against HCV, and some have been shown to have great medicinal value in preventing and/or ameliorating viral diseases in pre-clinical and clinical trials. This review summarizes medicinal plants and their phytochemicals which inhibit different stages of HCV life cycle and discuss their potential use in HCV therapy.
Core tip: Medicinal plants have always caught the attention of researchers to develop antiviral drugs against dreadful viral diseases. Many plant species are being tested against hepatitis C virus (HCV) to find a possible cure for it and, hopefully, in the future these medicinal plants can serve as an important source for developing anti-HCV drugs.