AIM: Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which infects an estimated 170 million people worldwide, is a major cause of chronic liver disease. The current standard therapy for chronic hepatitis C is based on pegylated interferon (IFN)alpha in combination with ribavirin. However, the success rate remains at approximately 50%. Therefore, alternative agents are needed for the treatment of HCV infection. METHODS: Using an HCV-1b subgenomic replicon cell culture system (Huh7/Rep-Feo), we found that griseofulvin, an oral antifungal agent, suppressed HCV-RNA replication and protein expression in a dose-dependent manner. We also found that griseofulvin suppressed the replication of infectious HCV JFH-1. A combination of IFNalpha and griseofulvin exhibited a synergistic inhibitory effect in Huh7/Rep-Feo cells. RESULTS: We found that griseofulvin blocked the cell cycle at the G(2)/M phase in the HCV subgenomic replicon cells, but did not inhibit HCV internal ribosome entry site-dependent translation. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that griseofulvin may represent a new approach to the development of a novel therapy for HCV infection.
AIM: Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which infects an estimated 170 million people worldwide, is a major cause of chronic liver disease. The current standard therapy for chronic hepatitis C is based on pegylated interferon (IFN)alpha in combination with ribavirin. However, the success rate remains at approximately 50%. Therefore, alternative agents are needed for the treatment of HCV infection. METHODS: Using an HCV-1b subgenomic replicon cell culture system (Huh7/Rep-Feo), we found that griseofulvin, an oral antifungal agent, suppressed HCV-RNA replication and protein expression in a dose-dependent manner. We also found that griseofulvin suppressed the replication of infectious HCV JFH-1. A combination of IFNalpha and griseofulvin exhibited a synergistic inhibitory effect in Huh7/Rep-Feo cells. RESULTS: We found that griseofulvin blocked the cell cycle at the G(2)/M phase in the HCV subgenomic replicon cells, but did not inhibit HCV internal ribosome entry site-dependent translation. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that griseofulvin may represent a new approach to the development of a novel therapy for HCV infection.
Authors: Wilson C Brooks; Noemi D Paguigan; Huzefa A Raja; Franklin J Moy; Nadja B Cech; Cedric J Pearce; Nicholas H Oberlies Journal: Magn Reson Chem Date: 2017-02-05 Impact factor: 2.447