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Updated: Apr 8, 2026

Porcine Corneal Tissue Explant to Study the Efficacy of Herpes Simplex Virus-1 Antivirals
Published on: September 20, 2021
Ionic derivatives of betulinic acid exhibit antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2), but not
Robert J Visalli1, Hannah Ziobrowski1, Kameswara R Badri2
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Mercer University School of Medicine, 4700 Waters Ave., Savannah, GA 31404, USA.
Abstract:
Betulinic acid (1) has been modified to ionic derivatives (2-5) to improve its water solubility and biological activities. The binding properties of these derivatives with respect to human serum albumin (HSA) was examined and found to be similar to current anti-HIV drugs. These compounds did not inhibit HIV reverse transcriptase, however, 1, 2 and 5 inhibited herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) replication at concentrations similar to those reported for acyclovir (IC50 ∼ 0.1-10 microM) and with minimal cellular cytotoxicity. IC50 values for antiviral activity against HSV-2 186 were 1.6, 0.6, 0.9, 7.2, and 0.9 microM for compounds 1-5, respectively.
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