# Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Metabolomic Analysis of Terminalia ferdinandiana Exell. Fruit Extracts That Inhibit HIV-1 Cell Infection, HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase and HIV-1 Protease

## TL;DR

This study explores fruit extracts from Terminalia ferdinandiana that show strong potential in inhibiting HIV-1 infection and related enzymes.

## Contribution

The study identifies and characterizes fruit extracts with multi-phase HIV-1 inhibitory activity and a safe therapeutic profile.

## Key findings

- Methanolic and aqueous T. ferdinandiana fruit extracts inhibit HIV-1 infection, reverse transcriptase, and protease.
- LC-MS analysis reveals tannins, flavonoids, and stilbenes as key constituents with known bioactivities.
- Extracts show good safety profiles and therapeutic indices suitable for potential HIV-1 therapeutics.

## Abstract

The emergence of HIV strains resistant to the current anti-retroviral drugs has necessitated the search for new anti-retroviral medications. Methanolic and aqueous T. ferdinandiana fruit extracts have potent inhibitory activity against several phases of the HIV-1 replicative cycle. Cell infectivity studies using a non-resistant HIV-1 pseudovirus demonstrated that the methanolic (IC50 16 µg/mL) and aqueous extracts (IC50 19 µg/mL) were potent inhibitors of viral infection in a non-replicating HIV-1 assay. Both extracts also inhibited HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (IC50 values of 35 and 33 µg/mL for methanolic and aqueous extracts, respectively) and HIV-1 protease (IC50 values of 19 and 27 µg/mL, respectively) in recombinant enzyme assays. Given their inhibitory activities against multiple phases of HIV-1 replication, T. ferdinandiana fruit extracts may be particularly useful as HIV-1 therapeutics. Furthermore, both extracts displayed good safety profiles and therapeutic indices, indicating their suitability for therapeutic usage. LC-MS metabolomic profiling analysis of the methanolic extract identified several interesting constituents, including a relative abundance of tannins, as well as several flavonoids and stilbenes. All of these compounds have previously been reported to have bioactivities consistent with the anti-HIV-1 activities reported herein. Based on these studies, methanolic and aqueous T. ferdinandiana fruit extracts are promising potential therapies for the prevention, treatment and management of HIV-1.