In vitro and in vivo anti-hepatitis B virus activities of a plant extract from Geranium carolinianum L

Natural products provide a large reservoir of potentially active agents with anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity. We examined the effect of the polyphenolic extract from Geranium carolinianum L. (PPGC) on HBV replication both in vitro and in vivo. In the human HBV-transfected liver cell line HepG2 2.2.15, PPGC effectively suppressed the secretion of the HBV antigens in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 values of 46.85 μg/ml for HBsAg and 65.60 μg/ml for HBeAg at day 9. Consistent with the HBV antigen reduction, PPGC (100 μg/ml) also reduced HBV DNA level by 35.9%. In the duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) infected ducks, after PPGC was dosed intragastricly (i.g.) once a day for 10 days, the plasma DHBV DNA level was reduced, with an ED50 value of 47.54 mg/kg. In addition, Southern blot analysis confirmed the in vivo anti-HBV effect of PPGC in ducks and PPGC also reduced the plasma and the liver DHBV DNA level in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, significant improvement of the liver was observed after PPGC treatment, as evaluated by the histopathological analysis.