Dengue has become a global affliction despite continuous efforts to find cure for this age-old disease. Hopeful results for dengue vaccine are far-fetched as the effectiveness are tied to previous dengue virus (DENV) exposure and billions of dollars needed to be invested for vaccine development. Medicinal plants are ideal alternatives to combat DENV infection as it has long been utilized in traditional medicine besides showing virucidal properties. However, the mechanism of action by which the plant compounds inhibits the viral replication machinery remains to be discovered. This review provides existing knowledge on how DENV replicates within the host cells, recruiting more than 70 medicinal plants and some essential oils with anti-DENV properties, highlighting possible viral targets for DENV inhibition. The possible mechanism on how phytochemicals modulates host immune system in DENV infection by inhibiting cytokine storm and vascular leakage, were also discussed. Based on the in silico findings, NS2B/NS3 protease is the most distinctive DENV inhibitor target. Most anti-DENV plants research stood at their initial stages and efforts should be channeled into further in vitro characterization, in vivo studies by employing larger subsets of human subjects, and in silico studies to facilitate the understanding of inhibition mechanism.

尽管不断努力寻找治愈这种古老疾病的方法，登革热已成为全球性疾病。登革热疫苗的希望结果远非如此，因为其有效性与先前登革热病毒（DENV）的暴露有关，并且疫苗开发需要投资数十亿美元。药用植物是对抗DENV感染的理想替代品，因为它除了显示出杀伤性外，还长期用于传统医学中。然而，植物化合物抑制病毒复制机制的作用机理仍有待发现。这篇综述提供了关于DENV如何在宿主细胞内复制的现有知识，募集了超过70种药用植物和一些具有抗DENV特性的香精油，重点介绍了可能的病毒靶点抑制DENV。还讨论了植物化学物质如何通过抑制细胞因子风暴和血管渗漏来调节DENV感染中宿主免疫系统的可能机制。基于在计算机分析中，NS2B / NS3蛋白酶是最独特的DENV抑制剂靶标。大多数抗DENV植物的研究还处于初期阶段，应将工作投入到进一步的体外表征，通过采用更大比例的人类受试者进行体内研究以及计算机模拟研究以促进对抑制机制的理解。