title: Anti-HCV activities of selective polyunsaturated fatty acids.
abstract: HCV infection can lead to chronic infectious hepatitis disease with serious sequelae. Interferon-alpha, or its PEGylated form, plus ribavirin is the only treatment option to combat HCV. Alternative and more effective therapy is needed due to the severe side effects and unsatisfactory curing rate of the current therapy. In this study, we found that several polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) including arachidonic acid (AA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) are able to exert anti-HCV activities using an HCV subgenomic RNA replicon system. The EC(50) (50% effective concentration to inhibit HCV replication) of AA was 4microM that falls in the range of physiologically relevant concentration. At 100microM, alpha-linolenic acid, gamma-linolenic, and linoleic acid only reduced HCV RNA levels slightly and saturated fatty acids including oleic acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, and steric acid had no inhibitory activities toward HCV replication. When AA was combined with IFN-alpha, strong synergistic anti-HCV effect was observed as revealed by an isobologram analysis. It will be important to determine whether PUFAs can provide synergistic antiviral effects when given as food supplements during IFN-based anti-HCV therapy. Further elucidation of the exact anti-HCV mechanism caused by AA, DHA, and EPA may lead to the development of agents with potent activity against HCV or related viruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Chiao [corrected] Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Guang-Zhou
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Leu
authors.forename: Tiao-Yin
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: John T A
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004357:Drug Synergism; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D016718:Arachidonic Acid; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid