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Updated: May 16, 2026

Early Viral Entry Assays for the Identification and Evaluation of Antiviral Compounds
Published on: October 29, 2015
Dioscin's antiviral effect in vitro
Chaohong Liu1, Yun Wang, Chunchen Wu
1State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan 430071, China. cliu1234@umd.edu
Abstract:
Dioscin is chemical compound obtained from an extract from a medical plant, air potato that is a yam species. Its potential antiviral properties were analyzed in this study. In this study, dioscin's antiviral effects were tested against several viruses including adenovirus, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV). By time-of-addition assay, dioscin not only blocked the initial stage of adenovirus infection, but also affected the host cell's response for viral infection. In addition, 293 cells treated with dioscin displayed decreased mRNA levels for adenovirus receptor (CAR). Over expression of CAR in 293 cells pretreated with dioscin restored the infectivity of adenovirus. The inhibitory effect of dioscin against VSV infection was observed only in 293 cells pretreated with dioscin prior to infection. Finally, dioscin's inhibitory effect on secretion of HBeAg and HBsAg in HBV positive cell line HepG2 2.215 was observed by ELISA assay.
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