Inhibition of replication of the etiologic agent of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (human T-lymphotropic retrovirus/lymphadenopathy-associated virus) by avarol and avarone.

Avarol and avarone are two antimitotic and antimutagenic agents that preferentially inhibit proliferation of T-cell leukemia lines in vitro. This report shows that these compounds have a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the replication of the etiologic agent of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), human T-lymphotropic retrovirus (HTLV-III)/lymphadenopathy-associated virus, in human H9 cells in vitro. Both compounds show a significant cytoprotective effect on HTLV-IIIB-infected H9 cells at concentrations as low as 0.1 microgram/ml (0.3 microM). Both avarone and avarol block in a dose-dependent manner the expression of the p24 and p17 gag proteins of HTLV-III in H9 cells after virus infection and block viral replication, as judged by approximately 80% inhibition of reverse transcriptase activity. These results strongly suggest that these compounds may prove to be useful in the treatment of patients with AIDS and AIDS-related complex.