WASHINGTON, DC A new anti-herpes agent derived from a common herb
effectively treats and prevents the disease in animals. Researchers from
Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia present their data today at the 103rd
General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
"Prunella vulgaris [also known as self-heal] is a perennial plant commonly
found in China, the British Isles, Europe, and North America. In herbal
literature, P. vulgaris has been described as a hot water infusion to treat
sores in the mouth and throat, as an astringent for internal and external
purposes, as a crude anti-cancer drug, and as a herbal remedy to lower high
blood pressure," says Song Lee, one of the researchers on the study.
Lee and his colleagues extracted a lignin-carbohydrate compound from the
plant, which was incorporated into a topical cream and tested on mice and
guinea pigs with experimental herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) and herpes
simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) infections. Guinea pigs receiving the
lignin-carbohydrate complex cream treatment showed a significant reduction
in skin lesions compared to those that received no treatment. Mice receiving
the lignin-carbohydrate complex cream treatment showed a significant
increase in survival rate compared to animals that received no treatment.
"The anti-HSV compound from P. vulgaris is a novel lignin-carbohydrate
complex with potent activity against HSV-1 and HSV-2 and has a different
anti-herpes mechanism than acyclovir, the current clinical anti-herpes
drug," says Lee. "Given the high incidence of herpes infection and the
emergence of acyclovir-resistant strains of herpes viruses, the Prunella
lignin-carbohydrate complex may prove to be a useful new anti-herpes drug."