Quinine sulfate and HSV replication

Although antimalarial drugs have been developed primarily to treat malaria, they are also beneficial for many dermatological, immunological, and rheumatological diseases, for which they are mostly used today in the Western world. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of quinine sulfate (QS) on the multiplication and adsorption of herpes virus type I (HSV-1). When Vero cells (African green monkey kidney) are infected with HSV-1 in the presence of QS, the viral adsorption is reduced, as demonstrated by a decrease of the number of microscopic plaques of the virus. When the virus-infected Vero cells are incubated in the presence of QS, the multiplication of HSV-1 is also reduced, and the diameter of the plaque are visibly smaller. The practical implications of the antiviral action of antimalarial drugs might be especially important to immunosuppressed patients who receive these drugs for autoimmune collagen-vascular diseases or as additional therapy for AIDS.