Antiviral agents fusion inhibitor

In this chapter, we have described the spectrum of antiviral activities that have been discovered beyond the world of nucleoside analogues, protease and fusion inhibitors. The compounds and mechanisms described here may one day add significantly to the armamentarium of antiviral agents, not only against Herpes Simplex, Hepatitis B and Human Immunodeficiency Virus, but also against Hepatitis C and Human Cytomegalovirus. 

Sulphated PS, potent antiviral agents, were also evaluated in vitro as inhibitors of influenza virus replication [119], The fact that the sulphated PS are inhibitory to some myxoviruses and retroviruses but not to others seems to depend on the composition of the amino acid sequences of the viral envelope glycoproteins that are involved in virus-cell binding and fusion [120],... 

PS from terrestrial plants have also been reported as anti-CMV agents. For example, PS from three plant species, Astragalus brachycentrus D. C., Astragalus echidnaeformis Sirjaev and Sterculia urens Roxb., which are devoid of in vitro antiviral activity, were evaluated in mouse models of murine CMV infections [109], Treatment with the compounds needed to be started one day prior to virus inoculation for maximum protective benefit. Treatments starting after virus inoculation were ineffective. The mannose-specific plant PS from the orchid species Cymbidium hybrid Cym., Epipactis helleborine (L) Crantz. and Listera ovata (L.) R.Br. Svenska are potent and selective inhibitors of human CMV in vitro [110], They presumably interact at the level of virion fusion with the target cell. 

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