A novel rare sugar inhibitor of murine herpes simplex keratitis.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the therapeutic efficacy of a novel rare sugar, l-psicose, for the treatment of HSV-1 induced herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK) in a mouse eye model.


METHODS
One rare sugar l-psicose was assayed for HSV-1 inhibition of in vitro virus adsorption. The IC50 and IC90 values of l-psicose were determined using plaque reduction assay (PRA) in CV-1 cell. Female Balb/c mice were corneally infected with HSV-1, strain KOS-GFP; A topical eye drop treatment of l-psicose was started 24 h after infection and continued four times daily for ten consecutive days. The severity of HSK was monitored by slit lamp examination in a masked fashion and Infectious HSV-1 shedding was determined by PRA.


RESULTS
l-psicose was found to have anti-viral activity in vitro at an IC50 dose of 99.5 mM and an IC90 dose of 160 mM. Topical eye drop treatment with 200 mM l-psicose in PBS solution significantly reduced the severity of HSK compared to the mock treatment group. The in vivo mouse ocular model results of l-psicose therapy correlated with accelerated clearance of virus from eye swabs.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that topical treatment with rare sugar l-psicose has efficacy against HSK through inhibition of HSV-1.
Department of Biology, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Syed
S
Muniruzzaman
U.C., Berkeley, USA.
Megan
M
McIntosh
Department of Biology, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Ahamed
A
Hossain
Rare Sugar Research Center, Kagawa University, 2393 Ikenobe, Miki, Takamatsu 761-0795, Japan.
Ken
K
Izumori
Department of Biology, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA, USA. Electronic address: pbhattac@xula.edu.
Partha S
PS
Bhattacharjee
D000287:Administration, Topical; D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005123:Eye / Q000187:drug effects / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005632:Fructose / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human; D016849:Keratitis, Herpetic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL
D000998:Antiviral Agents; C003243:psicose; D005632:Fructose
Eye drop; HSV-1; Herpes simplex keratitis; Rare sugar; l-psicose