Evaluation of the Antioxidant and Antiviral Actions of Herbal Preparations: Rovital and Carciverin V (C1983)

The antioxidant and antiviral actions of the herbal extracts Rovital and Carciverin-V (C1983) were assessed. Solutions of Rovital and C1983 are powerful scavengers of hydroxyl radicals. Rovital did not inhibit DNA damage by bleomycin or copper-phenanthroline systems, whereas C1983 inhibited moderately. C1983 had significant inhibitory effects on the peroxidation of phospholipid liposomes whereas Rovital did not. However, Rovital and C1983 also interfered with the ability of α1-antiproteinase to inhibit elastase. The extracts exhibited anti-HIV activity in C8166 cells at very low concentrations but were also cytotoxic.