In Vitro HIV Type-1 Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitory Activity from Leaf Extracts of Scoparia dulcis L.

Aqueous and methanolic crude extracts of Scoparia dulcis L. leaves were screened for activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) activity. The results were expressed as IC50. Zidovudine, which was used as a standard drug, showed an IC50 of 38.0 μg mL−1, whereas the aqueous and methanolic extracts from leaves of S. dulcis showed an IC50 of 60.0 and 47.0 μg mL−1, respectively. In this study, methanolic extract of S. dulcis leaves showed remarkable HIV type-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity comparable to that of a standard such as zidovudine. Observed results using standardized parameters indicated that S. dulcis has promising HIV type-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity.