Theaflavins, polyphenols of black tea, inhibit entry of hepatitis C virus in cell culture
Fig 5
Theaflavins act on the viral particles prior inoculation.
HCV virus stock was pre-incubated with 25 μg/ml of theaflavins for 1 h before inoculation, and then the mixture was diluted 10 times before being used for the inoculation, leading to a final concentration of theaflavins of 2.5 μg/ml (25 -> 2.5 μg/ml). In parallel, Huh-7 cells were inoculated with HCV in the presence of theaflavins either at 2.5 or 25 μg/ml. Cells were fixed and subjected to immunofluorescence to quantify infected cells as described above. Data are normalized to the DMSO, which is expressed as 100% infection. The results are presented as means ± SEM of three independent experiments performed in triplicate.