Glycyrrhizin, an Active Component of Liquorice Roots, and Replication of SARS-Associated Coronavirus
February 11th, 2020Via: The Lancet:
The outbreak of SARS warrants the search for antiviral compounds to treat the disease. At present, no specific treatment has been identified for SARS-associated coronavirus infection. We assessed the antiviral potential of ribavirin, 6-azauridine, pyrazofurin, mycophenolic acid, and glycyrrhizin against two clinical isolates of coronavirus (FFM-1 and FFM-2) from patients with SARS admitted to the clinical centre of Frankfurt University, Germany. Of all the compounds, glycyrrhizin was the most active in inhibiting replication of the SARS-associated virus. Our findings suggest that glycyrrhizin should be assessed for treatment of SARS.
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The figure shows the effect of glycyrrhizin on replication of SARS-CV in Vero cells. We detected replication of SARS-CV with serum samples from patients with SARS. Expression of viral antigens was much lower in cultures treated with 1000 mg/L of glycyrrhizin than in any other culture; high concentrations of glycyrrhizin (4000 mg/L) completely blocked replication of the virus (figure).
“glycyrrhizin was the most active in inhibiting replication of the SARS-associated virus. Our findings suggest that glycyrrhizin should be assessed for treatment of SARS.”
Damn, great find; glycyrrhizin in liquorice root. I’ll definitely restock my near empty bag of liquorice powder.