Viruses (May 2023)

Natural Products and Derivatives as Potential <i>Zika virus</i> Inhibitors: A Comprehensive Review

  • Rosângela Santos Pereira,
  • Françoise Camila Pereira Santos,
  • Priscilla Rodrigues Valadares Campana,
  • Vivian Vasconcelos Costa,
  • Rodrigo Maia de Pádua,
  • Daniele G. Souza,
  • Mauro Martins Teixeira,
  • Fernão Castro Braga

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v15051211
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 5
p. 1211

Abstract

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Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus whose infection in humans can lead to severe outcomes. This article reviews studies reporting the anti-ZIKV activity of natural products (NPs) and derivatives published from 1997 to 2022, which were carried out with NPs obtained from plants (82.4%) or semisynthetic/synthetic derivatives, fungi (3.1%), bacteria (7.6%), animals (1.2%) and marine organisms (1.9%) along with miscellaneous compounds (3.8%). Classes of NPs reported to present anti-ZIKV activity include polyphenols, triterpenes, alkaloids, and steroids, among others. The highest values of the selectivity index, the ratio between cytotoxicity and antiviral activity (SI = CC50/EC50), were reported for epigallocatechin gallate (SI ≥ 25,000) and anisomycin (SI ≥ 11,900) obtained from Streptomyces bacteria, dolastane (SI = 1246) isolated from the marine seaweed Canistrocarpus cervicorni, and the flavonol myricetin (SI ≥ 862). NPs mostly act at the stages of viral adsorption and internalization in addition to presenting virucidal effect. The data demonstrate the potential of NPs for developing new anti-ZIKV agents and highlight the lack of studies addressing their molecular mechanisms of action and pre-clinical studies of efficacy and safety in animal models. To the best of our knowledge, none of the active compounds has been submitted to clinical studies.

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