title: Antiviral activity of Viracea against acyclovir susceptible and acyclovir resistant strains of herpes simplex virus.
abstract: Viracea, a topical microbicide, is a blend of benzalkonium chloride and phytochemicals derived from Echinacea purpurea and is a proprietary formula from Destiny BioMediX Corp. Viracea was tested against 40 strains of herpes simplex virus (HSV): 15 strains (five HSV-1 and ten HSV-2) were resistant to acyclovir (ACV-R) and 25 strains (13 HSV-1 and 12 HSV-2) were susceptible to ACV (ACV-S). The median ED50 of Viracea for the five ACV-R strains of HSV-1 was a 1:100 dilution of the drug with a range of 1:50-1:400. The median ED50 of Viracea for the ten ACV-R strains of HSV-2 was 1:200 with a range of 1:50-1:3200. For the ACV-S strains of HSV-1 and HSV-2, the median ED50 of Viracea was 1:100 and 1:200, respectively. The cytotoxicity of Viracea was evaluated in a standard neutral red dye uptake assay in human foreskin fibroblasts. The cytotoxicity of Viracea approached only 50% at the highest concentration of the drug tested, a 1:2 dilution, indicating that Viracea is non-toxic in this cell cytotoxicity assay. Although the active component(s) in Viracea that has anti-HSV activity is not known, it appears that this extract has good antiviral activity against both ACV resistant and ACV susceptible strains of HSV-1 and HSV-2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The University of Chicago Medical Center, IL 60637, USA. thompson@midway.uchicago.edu
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000212:Acyclovir / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019659:Asteraceae / Q000737:chemistry; D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000187:drug effects*; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds; C115528:Viracea; D000212:Acyclovir