Abstract: Objective: To investigate the inhibitory effects of total flavones from Vitis vinifer L. on hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication and their toxicity in cultured human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cell line HepG 2.2.15 transfected with HBV DNA. Methods: After 8 days of treatment with total flavones from Vitis vinifer L., the contents of HBsAg and HBeAg in the cell culture supernatant of HepG 2.2.15 were measured by ELISA to calculate the inhibitory rates against the secretion of HBsAg and HBeAg, the change in HBV DNA was monitored by real-time PCR, and cytotoxicity test was performed using MTT assay. Results: Addition of total flavones from Vitis vinifer L. in a dosage range of 12.5 to 100μg/mL could reduce the contents of HBsAg and HBeAg in the cell culture supernatant of HepG 2.2.15 to different extents. Little cytotoxic effect was observed with a median toxic concentration (TC50) of 284.91 μg/mL. The median effective doses (IC50) on HBsAg and HBeAg were 327.56 μg/mL and 215.34 μg/mL, and the therapeutic index for HBsAg and HbeAg were 0.87 and 1.32, respectively. Total flavones from Vitis vinifer L. at 100 μg/mL could inhibit HBV DNA by 47.63%. Conclusion: Total flavones from Vitis vinifer L. have inhibitory effects on HBV in vitro.

Key words: Vitis vinifer L, flavones, hepatitis B virus, cell culture