Licorice Compound puts SARS on the Run

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Licorice compound puts SARS on the run

2 hours, 10 minutes ago

 

 

PARIS (AFP) - A major ingredient in licorice has proven remarkably successful at

combatting the SARS (news - web sites) virus in lab-dish tests, according to a

German study.

 

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·Licorice compound may put SARS on the run

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Glycyrrhizin, a compound extracted from licorice roots which has been previously

explored in anti-viral research, was highly effective at stopping the SARS virus

from reproducing, the authors of the study in the British weekly journal The

Lancet say.

 

It easily beat out four standard compounds used to block virus or tumorous cell

replication -- ribavirin, 6-azauridine, pyrazofurin and mycophenolic acid.

 

The research is only a preliminary study and much further work is needed,

assessing safety as well as effectiveness, before anyone can call glycyrrhizin a

cure for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

 

Even so, the findings are so positive that it should be taken seriously as a

potential weapon in the fight against this disease, say the team, led by

Jindrich Cinatl from Frankfurt University Medical School.

 

The experiment involved taking samples of the SARS virus from two patients with

SARS who had been admitted to the university's medical centre.

 

The viruses were then used to infect Vero cells, a tissue culture of monkey

kidney cells that are a standard item of lab equipment.

 

The dishes were exposed to each of the five compounds and examined 72 to 96

hours later to see how many infected cells had reproduced.

 

Ribavirin -- a drug widely used against SARS but which has had very

disappointing results -- did nothing to stop the virus sample from replicating,

nor did mycophenolic acid.

 

Pyrazofurin and 6-azauridine had low and modest effect respectively, but were

outclassed by glycyrrhizin, which was more than five times more effective than

those two compounds and at high concentrations completely blocked replication.

 

" 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, " Cinatl's team says.

 

Glycyrrhizin gets its name from Glycyrrhiza glabra, the Latin sobriquet for the

licorice plant, which homeopathic medicine has long claimed to be useful in

tackling respiratory, urinary and digestive irritations and infections of the

mouth and throat. Licorice is especially used in traditional Chinese medicine.

 

Glycyrrhizin has previously been used experimentally against hepatitis B and C

virus and even against the AIDS (news - web sites) virus, where small-scale

studies have suggested it boosts numbers of T-cells, a key component of the

immune system.

 

The extract is derived from licorice roots and takes the form of a yellow powder

with a bittersweet taste.

 

Why glycyrrhizin apparently works against SARS is unclear, the study says.

 

It may induce the infected cell to produce nitrous oxide, thus blocking the

molecular pathway that helps the virus to replicate. Nitrous oxide has

previously been established as an inhibitor of the Japanese encephalitis virus.

 

Glycyrrhizin is a well-known molecule with relatively few side-effects even at

high doses, unlike ribavirin, whose toxic effects include reductions in

haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying substance in the blood, the study says.

 

 

 

Since emerging in China's southern Guangdong province last November, SARS has

killed 750 people and infected more than 8,400 worldwide, according to figures

from the World Health Organisation.

 

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