الخلاصة

ABSTRACT This study was planned to evaluate the antiviral effect of lycopene against HSV-1 infection compared with acyclovir. The protocol of MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was done for the determination of cell viability and antiviral effect of lycopene as compared with acyclovir by measuring drug half-maximal Effective concentration (EC50) causing 50% inhibition in viral– induced cytopathic effects with different concentrations (5 μg/ml, 10μg/ml, 15μg/ml,20 μg/ml and 25μg/ml ) of lycopene and acyclovir. The assay of in vitro studying of antiviral effect by MTT revealed a significant antiviral activity of lycopene (P= 0.015) against HSV-1 at a concentration of 25μg/ml. The peak of optimum acyclovir concentration was equal to 15 μg/ml (P=0.013). The half maximal effective of acyclovir concentration (EC50) was 1.916 μg/ml, while lycopene EC50 was equal to 22.86 μg/ml. This study revealed a most important conclusion that Lycopene revealed a significant antiviral effect and anticytotoxic activity against HSV-1 infection in vitro. Keywords: RD cell lines, cell culture, herpes simplex1, MTT assay, Lycopene, Acyclovir. *Corresponding