Uvaria angolensis as a promising source of inhibitors of HIV-1 RT-associated RNA-dependent DNA polymerase and RNase H functions

Reverse transcriptase (RT)-associated DNA polymerase (RDDP) and ribonucleaser H (RNase H) functions are both essential for HIV-1 genome replication, and the identification of new inhibitors to block both of them is a goal actively pursued by the scientific community. In this field, natural extracts have shown a great potential as source of new antivirals. In the present work, we investigated the effect of Uvaria angolensis extracts on the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase-associated DNA polymerase and ribonuclease H activities. The U. angolensis stem bark methanol extract inhibit both HIV-1 RNase H function and RDDP activity with IC50 values of 1.0 ± 0.2 and 0.62 ± 0.15 μg/mL, respectively and, after been fractionated with different solvents, its solid residue showed an IC50 of 0.10 ± 0.03 and of 0.23 ± 0.04 μg/mL against RNase H and RDDP, respectively, hence laying the bases for further studies for identification of single active components.