Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Early Viral Entry Assays for the Identification and Evaluation of Antiviral Compounds
Published on: October 29, 2015
Antiviral activity of seed extract from Citrus bergamia towards human retroviruses
Emanuela Balestrieri1, Francesco Pizzimenti, Angelo Ferlazzo
1Department of Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Science, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
The effects of an extract from Citrus bergamia (BSext) and those of two products purified from the same extract, that is, nomilin and limonin, and reference compounds, towards HTLV-1 have been reported. Moreover, they were also compared with those obtained towards HIV-1. Results showed that the efficacy of both BSext and limonin in inhibiting HTLV-1 as well as HIV-1 expression in infected cells, as evaluated by comparable quantitative assays, was close to that of the effective, reference compounds, respectively. The protective effect of BSext and of the purified products was associated with the inhibition of both HTLV-1 and HIV-1 RT activities in conceptually similar, cell-free assays. The cytotoxicity of the assayed compounds of natural origin was substantially less pronounced than that of the reference compounds, thus showing a favourable selectivity index for the novel BSext product.
Related Concept Videos
Antiviral Nucleoside Inhibitors
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Retroviruses
Inhibitors Of Virion Release
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers
Inhibitors of Virion Maturation and Assembly

