INHIBITION BY CERTAIN POLYSACCHARIDES OF HEMAGGLUTINATION AND OF MULTIPLICATION OF INFLUENZA VIRUS

In Vitro Anti-HIV-1 Activity of Chitosan Oligomers N-Conjugated with Asparagine and Glutamine

Chitosan oligomers (COS) are polysaccharides obtained by the hydrolyzation of chitosan. They are water-soluble, biodegradable, and have a wide range of beneficial properties for human health. Studies have shown that COS and its derivatives possess antitumor, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activities. The goal of the current study was to investigate the anti-human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) potential of amino acid-conjugated COS compared to COS itself. The HIV-1 inhibitory effects of asparagine-conjugated (COS-N) and glutamine-conjugated (COS-Q) COS were evaluated by their ability to protect C8166 CD4+ human T cell lines from HIV-1 infection and infection-mediated death. The results show that the presence of COS-N and COS-Q was able to prevent cells from HIV-1-induced lysis. Additionally, p24 viral protein production was observed to be suppressed in COS conjugate-treated cells compared to COS-treated and untreated groups. However, the protective effect of COS conjugates diminished by delayed treatment indicated an early stage inhibitory effect. COS-N and COS-Q did not show any inhibitory effect on the activities of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and protease enzyme. The results suggest that COS-N and COS-Q possess an HIV-1 entry inhibition activity compared to COS and further studies to develop different peptide and amino acid conjugates containing N and Q amino acids might yield more effective compounds to battle HIV-1 infection.

Antiviral Strategies Using Natural Source-Derived Sulfated Polysaccharides in the Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Major Human Pathogenic Viruses

Only a mere fraction of the huge variety of human pathogenic viruses can be targeted by the currently available spectrum of antiviral drugs. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak has highlighted the urgent need for molecules that can be deployed quickly to treat novel, developing or re-emerging viral infections. Sulfated polysaccharides are found on the surfaces of both the susceptible host cells and the majority of human viruses, and thus can play an important role during viral infection. Such polysaccharides widely occurring in natural sources, specifically those converted into sulfated varieties, have already proved to possess a high level and sometimes also broad-spectrum antiviral activity. This antiviral potency can be determined through multifold molecular pathways, which in many cases have low profiles of cytotoxicity. Consequently, several new polysaccharide-derived drugs are currently being investigated in clinical settings. We reviewed the present status of research on sulfated polysaccharide-based antiviral agents, their structural characteristics, structure-activity relationships, and the potential of clinical application. Furthermore, the molecular mechanisms of sulfated polysaccharides involved in viral infection or in antiviral activity, respectively, are discussed, together with a focus on the emerging methodology contributing to polysaccharide-based drug development.

The potential of pectin to impact pig nutrition and health: feeding the animal and its microbiome

The increasing efforts to substitute antibiotics and improve animal health combined with the acknowledgement of the role of gut microbiota in health have led to an elevated interest in the understanding on how fibre with prebiotic potential, such as pectin, can improve animal growth and health via direct or gut microbiota mediated effects. Various reports exist on the antiviral and antibacterial effects of pectin, as well as its potency as a modulator of the immune response and gut microbial community. Comprehensive insights into the potential of pectin to improve animal growth and health are currently still hampered by heterogeneity in the design of studies. Studies differ with regard to the dosage, molecular structure and source of the pectin implemented, as well as concerning the set of investigations of its effects on the host. Harmonisation of the study design including an in-depth analysis of the gut microbial community and its metabolome will aid to extract information on how pectin can impact growth and overall animal health. Studies with an increased focus on pectin structure such as on pectin-derived rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I) are just starting to unravel pectin-structure-related effects on mammalian health.

In vivo anti-herpes simplex virus activity of a sulfated derivative of Agaricus brasiliensis mycelial polysaccharide

Agaricus brasiliensis (syn. A. subrufescens), a basidiomycete fungus native to the Atlantic forest in Brazil, contains cell walls rich in glucomannan polysaccharides. The β-(1 → 2)-gluco-β-(1 → 3)-mannan was isolated from A. brasiliensis mycelium, chemically modified by sulfation, and named MI-S. MI-S has multiple mechanisms of action, including inhibition of herpes simplex virus (HSV) attachment, entry, and cell-to-cell spread (F. T. G. S. Cardozo, C. M. Camelini, A. Mascarello, M. J. Rossi, R. J. Nunes, C. R. Barardi, M. M. de Mendonça, and C. M. O. Simões, Antiviral Res. 92:108-114, 2011). The antiherpetic efficacy of MI-S was assessed in murine ocular, cutaneous, and genital infection models of HSV. Groups of 10 mice were infected with HSV-1 (strain KOS) or HSV-2 (strain 333). MI-S was given either topically or by oral gavage under various pre- and posttreatment regimens, and the severity of disease and viral titers in ocular and vaginal samples were determined. No toxicity was observed in the uninfected groups treated with MI-S. The topical and oral treatments with MI-S were not effective in reducing ocular disease. Topical application of MI-S on skin lesions was also not effective, but cutaneously infected mice treated orally with MI-S had significantly reduced disease scores (P < 0.05) after day 9, suggesting that healing was accelerated. Vaginal administration of MI-S 20 min before viral challenge reduced the mean disease scores on days 5 to 9 (P < 0.05), viral titers on day 1 (P < 0.05), and mortality (P < 0.0001) in comparison to the control groups (untreated and vehicle treated). These results show that MI-S may be useful as an oral agent to reduce the severity of HSV cutaneous and mucosal lesions and, more importantly, as a microbicide to block sexual transmission of HSV-2 genital infections.

The nature of the virus receptors of red cells; evidence on the chemical nature of the virus receptors of red cells and of the existence of a closely analogous substance in normal serum

The influenza virus receptors of fowl red cells and the influenza virus inhibitor of normal rabbit serum have the following attributes in common: They are stable at high temperatures and in solutions of pH as high as 10.0. They both resist destruction by a number of oxidizing agents but are readily destroyed by sodium periodate, trypsin, and influenza virus. These facts suggest that the red cell receptor and the normal serum inhibitor are either the same or analogous substances and that they may belong to the mucoprotein class of compounds.

The effect of polysaccharides on the reaction between erythrocytes and viruses, with particular reference to mumps virus

Polysaccharides which cause inhibition of the multiplication of mumps virus in the allantoic sac may or may not cause inhibition of hemagglutination by the virus. Moreover, such substances may or may not prevent adsorption of the virus by erythrocytes. The available evidence indicates that polysaccharides active as inhibitors do not block adsorption of mumps virus by cells of the living allantoic membrane. With influenza A, influenza B, and Newcastle disease viruses, as well as with PVM, there also appears to be a lack of correlation between the in vitro and in vivo inhibiting activity of polysaccharides.

The inhibitory effect of polysaccharide on mumps virus multiplication

Polysaccharides derived from type-specific Friedländer bacilli cause inhibition of the multiplication of mumps virus in the allantoic sac of the chick embryo. As little as 5 µg. of polysaccharide is effective as an inhibitor. Inhibition of multiplication is obtained when polysaccharide is injected as long as 4 days after inoculation of virus. Chemical studies have shown that the structural configurations of the polysaccharide responsible for specific serological activity are not identical with those which determine the inhibitory effect relative to mumps virus. The possible mechanisms of the inhibition of viral multiplication by means of polysaccharides are discussed.

Anti-herpetic activity of a sulfated xylomannan from Scinaia hatei

Many viruses display affinity for cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans with biological relevance in virus entry. This raises the possibility of the application of sulfated polysaccharides in antiviral therapy. In this study we have analyzed polysaccharide fractions isolated from Scinaia hatei. The crude water extract (ShWE) as well as one fraction (F1) obtained by size exclusion chromatography had potent anti-HSV activity. Their inhibitory concentration 50% (IC50) values ranging from 0.5 to 4.6 microg/ml were much lower than the cytotoxic concentration 50% (CC50) values (1000 microg/ml). These fractions had very low anticoagulant activity. Furthermore, they had a weak inactivating effect on virions in a virucidal assay at concentrations in the range of 60-100 microg/ml. Chemical, chromatographic and spectroscopic methods showed that the major polysaccharide, which had 0.4 sulfate group per monomer unit and an apparent molecular mass of 160 kDa, contained a backbone of alpha-(1-->3)-linked D-mannopyranosyl residues substituted at C-6, C-4 and C-2 with single stub of beta-d-xylopyranosyl residues. Sulfate groups, when present, are located at C-4 of alpha-(1-->3)-linked D-mannopyranosyl units, and appeared to be very important for the anti-herpetic activity of this polymer.

Purification of an influenza virus substrate, and demonstration of its competitive antagonism to apple pectin

A substance was demonstrated in erythrocytes which antagonized the inhibiting effect of apple pectin on influenza virus hemagglutination. This substance was purified and found to be a water-soluble material, rather labile, and with some properties which suggested that it contained a polysaccharide. It was destroyed in vitro by highly purified preparations of the virus. It occurred in greatest amount in human erythrocytes and to a lesser extent in the red cells of species not susceptible to the virus. It was also found in normal rabbit serum. Calcium ions were found to be essential to the action of apple pectin in causing inhibition of virus hemagglutination. A second substance was purified from an alkaline extract of erythrocytes, and shown likewise to have an effect antagonistic to that of pectin. However, this latter material was not destroyed by the virus, and seemed to owe its effect to the binding of calcium ions.

A resistant variant of mumps virus; multiplication of the variant in the presence of inhibitory quantities of Friedländer bacillus polysaccharide

Serial passage of mumps virus in the presence of inhibitory quantities of the capsular polysaccharide of Friediänder bacillus type B results in the appearance of a variant strain of the virus. Multiplication of the variant virus is not inhibited by the polysaccharide. A similar resistant variant is obtained with polysaccharide in a single cycle of multiplication when very large inocula of mumps virus are employed. The resistant variant is indistinguishable from the parent strain as to infectivity, reactivity with erythrocytes, and immunological properties, but appears to have a somewhat slower rate of multiplication. Serial passage of the resistant variant in the absence of polysaccharide results in the reappearance of a sensitive strain. It is suggested that mumps virus populations are inhomogeneous; that naturally occurring variants are present in such populations and possess distinctive properties; that the use of a chemical inhibitor of mumps virus multiplication makes possible the selection of a variant possessing a predictable property. The findings are discussed in relation to the mechanism of inhibition of mumps virus multiplication by polysaccharide.

Preparation of an inhibitor of viral hemagglutination from human erythrocytes

A material, derived from human erythrocytes and believed to be identical with the receptor site for the myxoviruses, has been obtained in homogeneous form. The method of preparation involves pH adjustment of the stroma, hot phenolic extraction, chloroform-methanol treatment, and ultracentrifugation. The material so obtained possesses a high inhibitory titer to viral hemagglutination (45,000 to 60,000 inhibitory units/mg. against 4 hemagglutination units of Lee strain of influenza virus) and appears to be a glycoprotein containing 22 to 24 per cent sialic acid, 12 per cent hexose, 12 per cent hexosamine, 1 per cent fucose in addition to at least eleven amino acids. The sialic acid probably occupies a terminal position in an oligosaccharide chain extending from the protein peptide chain. The molecular weight is near 30,000—an unusually low value for substances possessing this biological activity. M and N blood group activity also seems to be associated with this protein.

Marine products as a source of antiviral drug leads

A survey is presented of the occurrence of organic compounds from aquatic organisms that have been reported to have antiviral activities. Studies of the chemical structures and antiviral properties of unusual metabolic products of aquatic life have demonstrated that marine organisms offer excellent prospects in the search for antiviral drugs.

Inhibition of Theiler's encephalomyelitis virus (GDVII strain) of mice by an intestinal mucopolysaccharide. I. Biological properties and mechanism of action

A mucopolysaccharide has been obtained from intestinal tissue of adult mice which inhibits both infectivity and hemagglutination of Theiler's GDVII strain of encephalomyelitis virus of mice. The inhibitor is inactive against the FA and TO strains of Theiler's virus and against the Lansing strain of poliomyelitis virus. In the adult mouse, large amounts of the inhibitor are found only in the small intestine. The small intestine of infant mice, however, contains a considerably smaller amount of inhibitor. Inhibition, both in vivo and in vitro, appears to be the result of an interaction between virus and inhibitor. The intestines of man, monkey, rabbit, rat, cotton rat, hamster, sheep, cow, and pig contain relatively little inhibitor whereas guinea pig intestine contains as much as adult mouse intestine. An enzyme was found in the feces of mice, and several other animals, which is capable of destroying the inhibitory activity of the mucopolysaccharide with the liberation of reducing sugars.