Study on the Optimum Preparation Technology of Scutellaria Baicalensis Water-Soluble Carbon Dots and Their Anti-Rsv Activities in Vitro

Carbon dots prepared from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) not only retain the efficacy of the original herbal medicine, but also improve the pharmacological characteristics, dissolution rate, etc. of the drug, with special pharmacological activity, biocompatibility, water solubility, and fluorescence stability. In this work, inspired by Chinese herbs with anti-virus properties, Scutellaria baicalensis (SB) was used as a precursor and hydrothermal method was employed to prepare Scutellaria baicalensis water-soluble carbon dots (SB-CDs). The optimum preparation technology of SB-CDs was selected based on yield and fluorescence intensity, and the physical and chemical properties were characterized. Their anti-RSV activities were investigated through cellular experiments. The SB-CDs exhibited the highest comprehensive scoring at a liquid to material ratio of 0.2 g/50 mL, a reaction time of 12 hours, and a heating temperature of 140 °C. They possessed groups such as C=O, -OH or -NH2 on their surface, endowing them with good water solubility and stable optical properties. The therapeutic indices (TI) of ribavirin and SB-CDs were 2.79 and 9.67, respectively, indicating that the SB-CDs possessed a significant anti-RSV effect. This study concluded that, SB-CDs retained the anti-RSV efficacy of SB and exhibited good water solubility. This finding not only provides a novel idea for the field of carbon dots against RSV, but also offers certain references for the modification of TCM.