Investigating the Antiviral Effects of Silver Nanoparticles of Portulaca oleracea Against High Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1.

Ali, Ahmed A; Mekkawy, Khaled Mohamed; Allayeh, Abdou; Abdelmaksoud, Mohamed D; Abdalla, Fatma

doi:10.21608/zvjz.2025.347353.1274

Investigating the Antiviral Effects of Silver Nanoparticles of Portulaca oleracea Against High Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Sharkia, Egypt.

² Virology Lab, Water Pollution Research Department, Environment and Climate Change Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt

³ Biochemistry Department, Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt

10.21608/zvjz.2025.347353.1274

Abstract

Avian influenza, commonly referred to as bird flu, is a highly contagious respiratory disease that affects millions of birds each year, leading to significant losses in poultry production and posing a risk to human health. The water extract from the leaves of Portulaca oleracea (WEP) has been shown to alleviate symptoms associated with influenza A virus (IAV) infections. However, the antiviral efficacy of WEP against IAV remains unclear. In this study, we utilized a safe, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method to synthesize silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) from the leaf water extract of Portulaca oleracea. Our objective was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and antiviral properties of both WEP and Ag-NPs against High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in the Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell line. We employed the crystal violet assay to assess the viability of MDCK cell line treated with the compounds under study followed by investigation of the anti-influenza activity against HPAI H5N1 with cytopathic effect (CPE) inhibition assay achieved via scoring the cytopathic effect under inverted microscope during the 72-hour incubation time, assested by crystal violet staining of the virus infected cells. The results indicated that the half-maximal cytotoxic concentration (CC50) for WEP and Ag-NPs was 66.98 µg/ml and 50.38 µg/ml, respectively. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were 29.72 µg/ml for WEP and 10.78 µg/ml for Ag-NPs, leading to Selective Index (SI) values of 2.25 and 4.67, respectively. These findings displayed a moderate antiviral activity of both compounds against HPAI H5N1. Consequently, the previously reported alleviation of influenza symptoms may be attributed to the modulation of the host immune response rather than a direct antiviral effect against the influenza virus.

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