title: In vitro anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 activity of biliverdin, a bile pigment.
abstract: Biliverdin (BV) is a bile pigment having anti-allergic properties. We examined the effect of BV on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in vitro. BV completely inhibited the cytopathic effect of HIV-1 in MT-4 cells at concentrations of 22.2 micrograms/ml or more. This inhibitory effect was also observed when BV was present during the adsorption period of HIV-1. However, BV was cytotoxic to MT-4 cells at concentrations above 800 micrograms/ml. At a concentration of 66.7 micrograms/ml, BV completely inhibited syncytia formation by HIV-infected and uninfected MOLT-4 cells. Moreover, after exposure of HIV-1 particles to BV for 2 h, the infectivity of the virus was reduced in a dose-dependent manner. It is speculated that the anti-HIV activity of BV is due to direct inactivation of virions and inhibition of virus binding to target cells.
authors.affiliation: Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Otake
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ueba
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kunita
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakagami
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taji
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D001664:Biliverdine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D014774:Virulence / Q000187:drug effects; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D001664:Biliverdine