Extreme sensitivity of enveloped viruses, including herpes simplex, to long-chain unsaturated monoglycerides and alcohols.

Unsaturated monoglycerides and alcohols of chain lengths of 16 or 18 carbons were found to be extremely potent inactivators of two enveloped viruses, herpes simplex virus type 2 and bacteriophage phi6. The lipid-containing bacteriophage PM2 was also inactivated by some of these amphiphilic molecules. Treatment of herpes simplex virus type 2 with these compounds at concentrations as low as 0.2 muM reduced virus survival to 50% in 30 min, making these agents the most potent inactivators of herpes simplex viruses discovered that are not cytotoxic to mammalian cells. Detailed characterizations of the effects of unsaturated monoglycerides and alcohols on bacteriophages phi6 and PM2 showed that the inactivated phi6 virion remained nearly intact but that PM2 was almost completely disrupted by the inactivating treatment. Some of the compounds inactivate the viruses even at low temperature (0 degrees C). Excess amounts of diglycerides and phospholipids interfere with the inactivating abilities of some of the unsaturated monoglycerides and alcohols against phi6 and PM2. Our findings suggest that the unsaturated monoglycerides and some of the unsaturated alcohols should be further studied as potential antiviral agents, particularly for application to herpesvirus-infected areas of the skin and accessible epithelium.