HOMEPRODUCTSCOMPANYCONTACTFAQResearchDictionaryPharmaSign Up FREE or Login

Studies of the mechanisms of action of the antiretroviral agents hypericin and pseudohypericin.

Abstract
Administration of the aromatic polycyclic dione compounds hypericin or pseudohypericin to experimental animals provides protection from disease induced by retroviruses that give rise to acute, as well as slowly progressive, diseases. For example, survival from Friend virus-induced leukemia is significantly prolonged by both compounds, with hypericin showing the greater potency. Viremia induced by LP-BM5 murine immunodeficiency virus is markedly suppressed after infrequent dosage of either substance. These compounds affect the retroviral infection and replication cycle at least at two different points: (i) Assembly or processing of intact virions from infected cells was shown to be affected by hypericin. Electron microscopy of hypericin-treated, virus-producing cells revealed the production of particles containing immature or abnormally assembled cores, suggesting the compounds may interfere with processing of gag-encoded precursor polyproteins. The released virions contain no detectable activity of reverse transcriptase. (ii) Hypericin and pseudohypericin also directly inactivate mature and properly assembled retroviruses as determined by assays for reverse transcriptase and infectivity. Accumulating data from our laboratories suggest that these compounds inhibit retroviruses by unconventional mechanisms and that the potential therapeutic value of hypericin and pseudohypericin should be explored in diseases such as AIDS.
AuthorsG Lavie, F Valentine, B Levin, Y Mazur, G Gallo, D Lavie, D Weiner, D Meruelo
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A) Vol. 86 Issue 15 Pg. 5963-7 (Aug 1989) ISSN: 0027-8424 [Print] United States
PMID2548193 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
Chemical References
  • Anthracenes
  • Antiviral Agents
  • Benz(a)Anthracenes
  • Perylene
  • hypericin
  • pseudohypericin
Topics
  • Animals
  • Anthracenes
  • Antiviral Agents (therapeutic use)
  • Benz(a)Anthracenes (therapeutic use)
  • Cell Line
  • Friend murine leukemia virus (drug effects, growth & development)
  • Leukemia, Experimental (drug therapy, microbiology)
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Perylene (analogs & derivatives, pharmacology, therapeutic use)
  • Retroviridae (drug effects, growth & development)
  • Retroviridae Infections (drug therapy)

Join CureHunter, for free Research Interface BASIC access!

Take advantage of free CureHunter research engine access to explore the best drug and treatment options for any disease. Find out why thousands of doctors, pharma researchers and patient activists around the world use CureHunter every day.
Realize the full power of the drug-disease research graph!


Choose Username:
Email:
Password:
Verify Password:
Enter Code Shown: