Anti-HSV activity of digitoxin and its possible mechanisms
Journal
Antiviral Research
Journal Volume
79
Journal Issue
1
Pages
62-70
Date Issued
2008
Author(s)
Abstract
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can establish latent infection in the nervous system and usually leads to life-threatening diseases in immunocompromised individuals upon reactivation. Treatment with conventional nucleoside analogue such as acyclovir is effective in most cases, but drug-resistance may arise due to prolonged treatment in immunocompromised individuals. In this study, we identified an in-use medication, digitoxin, which actively inhibited HSV-1 replication with a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 0.05 μM. The 50% cytotoxicity concentration (CC50) of digitoxin is 10.66 μM and the derived selective index is 213. Several structural analogues of digitoxin such as digoxin, ouabain octahydrate and G-strophanthin also showed anti-HSV activity. The inhibitory effects of digitoxin are likely to be introduced at the early stage of HSV-1 replication and the virus release stage. The observation that digitoxin can inhibit acyclovir-resistant viruses further implicates that digitoxin represents a novel drug class with distinct antiviral mechanisms from traditional drugs. ? 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
SDGs
Other Subjects
aciclovir; digitoxin; digoxin; ouabain; animal cell; antiviral activity; article; controlled study; cytotoxicity; drug inhibition; drug mechanism; Herpes simplex virus 1; immunocompromised patient; nonhuman; priority journal; virus reactivation; virus replication; Animals; Antiviral Agents; Cercopithecus aethiops; Digitoxin; DNA, Viral; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Gene Expression; Herpes Simplex; Herpesvirus 1, Human; Humans; Vero Cells; Viral Proteins; Virus Internalization; Virus Replication; Virus Shedding; Human herpesvirus 1; Simplexvirus; Strophanthus gratus
Type
journal article