Researchers Develop New Therapy to Target Herpes Simplex-1 Virus

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have identified a small drug molecule that shows promise for treating herpes simplex-1 virus (HSV-1). Their approach could be a potential option for patients who have developed resistance to available drugs that work to prevent the virus from producing the proteins it needs to replicate. In “An Off-Target Effect of BX795 Blocks Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection of the Eye,” published in Science Translational Medicine, the team reports the small drug molecule BX795 helped clear HSV-1 infection in cultured human corneal cells, in donated human corneas, and in the eyes of mice infected with HSV-1. The team suggests the drug could be equally effective in treating HSV-1 in the oral cavity. “Because BX795 targets a common pathway that many viruses use to replicate inside the cell, it could be a new kind of broad-spectrum antiviral that might be used to treat other viral infections, including HSV-2 and human immunodeficiency virus,” notes corresponding author Deepak Shukla, PhD, MS, Marion Schenk Professor of Ophthalmology and professor of microbiology and immunology in the UIC College of Medicine. He adds, however, that the team has not yet tested it on viruses other than HSV-1.

From Decisions in Dentistry. August 2018;4(8):10.