title: Unsaturated free fatty acids inactivate animal enveloped viruses.
abstract: Unsaturated free fatty acids such as oleic, arachidonic or linoleic at concentrations of 5-25 microgram/ml inactivate enveloped viruses such as herpes, influenza, Sendai, Sindbis within minutes of contact. At these concentrations the fatty acids are inocuous to animal host cells in vitro. Naked viruses, such as polio, SV40 or EMC are not affected by these acids. Saturated stearic acid does not inactivate any viruses at concentrations tested. Though the mode of action of unsaturated fatty acids is not understood, electronmicrographs of enveloped viruses treated by them indicate that the inactivation is associated with disintegration of the virus envelope.
mesh_terms: D001095:Arachidonic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000187:drug effects*; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000187:drug effects*; D008041:Linoleic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D009829:Oleic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D010252:Paramyxoviridae / Q000187:drug effects*; D012845:Sindbis Virus / Q000187:drug effects; D013229:Stearic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D014035:Togaviridae / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D001095:Arachidonic Acids; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D008041:Linoleic Acids; D009829:Oleic Acids; D013229:Stearic Acids