Anti-hepatitis B virus activity of lithospermic acid, a polyphenol from Salvia miltiorrhiza, in vitro and in vivo by autophagy regulation

Lithospermic acid (LA), a kind of polyphenol from an important TCM, Salvia miltiorrhiza, exhibited anti-HBV activity in vitro (transfected HepG2 cells) and in vivo (HBV hydrodynamic injection mice). The mechanistic research showed that LA induced a complete autophagy, as evidenced mainly by upregulating LC3-II protein expression, enhancing the acidic function of lysosomes, promoting the co-localization of LC3 protein with autolysosomes, and increasing the degradation of p62 protein. The autophagy induced by LA counteracted HBV-elicited autophagy and was unfavorable to HBV replication. This may be one of anti-HBV mechanisms of LA. Further study showed that LA elicited autophagy through hampering the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.Image 1