Evaluation of antiviral activity of Andrographis paniculata and Tinospora cordifolia using in silico and in vitro assay against DENV-2

Background: Dengue is one of the most widespread arthropod-borne viral infections without any effective treatment. The anti-DENV-2 mechanism of plants Andrographis paniculata (whole plant), Tinospora cordifolia (stem & leaves), their bioactive synthetic compounds depend on acute febrile treatment, is poorly understood for new anti-dengue therapy development. Objectives: The current study was undertaken to evaluate in silico and in vitro study on crude extracts, bioactive fractions, bioactive synthetic compounds of A. paniculata, T. cordifolia against anti-DENV-2. Methods: In silico study was evaluated by Lipinski’s rule of five, drug-likeness score and molecular docking against DENV-2 NS2B-NS3. After in silico study, the antiviral activity was performed under in vitro conditions with cytotoxicity, pre-incubation, post-incubation, and protective assay. Findings: It was observed that in in silico studies, the best docked compounds andrographolide (-11.58 kcal/mol), magnoflorine (-9.22 kcal/mol) and their combination (50:50); ethanolic extract of A. paniculata, aqueous-ethanolic (50:50) extract of T. cordifolia and their combination (50:50) extract, their bioactive fractions with possible phenolic glycosides, pyridinecarboxylic acid, flavone, phenols, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, phenolic acid, alkaloids, isopalmitic acid, diterpenoids, quinic acid, isopalmitic acid and sesquiterpenoids compound class category, showed 50% minimum effective and inhibitory concentration. Conclusions: The crude extracts, bioactive fractions and bioactive synthetic compounds of A. paniculata and T. cordifolia and combination (50:50) could be the potential anti-DENV-2 therapy in in silico and in vitro infection model.