Wei-Ping Lee1,2, Keng-Li Lan3,4, Shi-Xian Liao5, Yi-Hsiang Huang5,6,7, Ming-Chih Hou5,6, Keng-Hsin Lan5,6,8. 1. Department of Medical Research and Education, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. 2. Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. 3. Division of Radiation Oncology, Department of Oncology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. 4. Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. 5. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. 6. Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. 7. Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. 8. Institute of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major causative agent of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The rapid progress in the development of direct-acting antivirals has greatly elevated the cure rate to ≥95% in recent years. However, the high cost of treatment is not affordable to patients in some countries, necessitating the development of less expensive treatment. METHODS: We adopted a cell culture-derived HCV system to screen a library of the pure compounds extracted from herbs deposited in the chemical bank of the National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Taiwan. RESULTS: We found that saikosaponin B2 inhibited viral entry, replication, and translation. Saikosaponin B2 is a plant glycoside and a component of xiao-chai-hu-tang, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine extracted from the roots of Bupleurum falcatum. It also inhibited daclatasvir-resistant mutant strains of HCV, especially in combination with daclatasvir. CONCLUSION: Our results may aid the development of a new combination therapy useful for patients with HCV who are intolerant or refractory to the currently available medications, including pegylated interferon and direct-acting antiviral agents.
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major causative agent of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The rapid progress in the development of direct-acting antivirals has greatly elevated the cure rate to ≥95% in recent years. However, the high cost of treatment is not affordable to patients in some countries, necessitating the development of less expensive treatment. METHODS: We adopted a cell culture-derived HCV system to screen a library of the pure compounds extracted from herbs deposited in the chemical bank of the National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Taiwan. RESULTS: We found that saikosaponin B2 inhibited viral entry, replication, and translation. Saikosaponin B2 is a plant glycoside and a component of xiao-chai-hu-tang, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine extracted from the roots of Bupleurum falcatum. It also inhibited daclatasvir-resistant mutant strains of HCV, especially in combination with daclatasvir. CONCLUSION: Our results may aid the development of a new combination therapy useful for patients with HCV who are intolerant or refractory to the currently available medications, including pegylated interferon and direct-acting antiviral agents.