Antiseptic and Antiviral Agents

PolyPs display antiseptic, cytoprotective and antiviral activities. At a concentration of 0.1 % or higher, PolyP had a bacteriocidal effect on log arithmic-phase Bacillus cereus cells (Maier et al., 1999). The growth inhibition effect of PolyP was observed with Staphylococcus aureus (Jen and Shelef, 1986 Matsuoka et al., 1995) and Aerornonas hydrophila (Palumbo et al., 1995). 

PolyP with a chain length of more than four P residues inhibited human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection of cells in vitro at concentrations of 300 /xM (in terms of Pi residues), whereas PolyP3 was ineffective (Lorenz et al., 1997b). This long-chain PolyP also inhibited HIV-1-induced syncytium formation. The anti-HIV effect of PolyPs may be due to the binding of the compounds to both the host cell surface and the virus, thereby inhibiting adsorption of the virus (Lorenz et al., 1997b). 

---