eng Oriental Scientific Publishing Company Biomedical and Pharmacology Journal 0974-6242 2026-03-20 19 1 479 490 10.13005/bpj/3367 70274 article Kumari Soniya 1 Sanjit Boora 1 Suman Yadav 1 Abhishekh Kumar Bharti 2 Manisha Sharma 1 Poonam Patil 2 Centre for Biotechnology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India Dengue and Chikungunya Group, ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune, India Chikungunya is an infectious, mosquito-borne viral disease that poses a significant threat to global public health. No licensed antiviral drugs or vaccines are available to treat CHIKV infection. The present study aims to investigate the in vitro antiviral and anti-inflammatory potential of Cynodon dactylon aqueous extract. FTIR and GC-MS phytochemical studies were used to identify the primary bioactive component. The maximum non-toxic dose of the plant was determined through an MTT assay on Vero cells. Subsequently, the antiviral potential was evaluated through pre-, co-, and post-treatment assays to determine the stage at which the extract is most effective. Cell morphological features were microscopically examined for cytopathic effects, followed by the evaluation of virus titre via the focus-forming unit using culture supernatant. The phytochemical study revealed 24 bioactive chemicals, the most common of which was hexadecanoic acid eicosyl ester, accounting for 24.64% of the total. The maximum non-toxic dose was 62.5 µg/mL, with an IC50 of 420.67 µg/mL. Post-treatment showed the highest antiviral activity, reducing the viral titre from 8.10 (virus control) to 7.36 mean log10 FFU/mL, corresponding to 82.25% inhibition. The anti-inflammatory assay of the plant extract showed a percentage inhibition of 72.38% at 500 μg/ml, compared to the standard diclofenac sodium (75.14%). Medicinal plants and their bioactive compounds serve as a vital source of antimicrobial agents, offering promising alternatives for the development of natural therapeutics. This study demonstrates that Cynodon dactylon can effectively suppress CHIKV-induced infection and inflammation. Furthermore, hexadecanoic acid eicosyl ester has the potential to be developed as an anti-Chikungunya therapeutic candidate; however, it requires further validation in in vivo models. https://biomedpharmajournal.org/vol19no1/anti-chikungunya-and-anti-inflammatory-therapeutic-potential-of-cynodon-dactylon-aqueous-extract/ Antiviral Anti-inflammatory Chikungunya Virus Cynodon dactylon Cytotoxicity FFU assay