Quinic acid derivatives inhibit dengue virus replication in vitro
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Updated: Mar 28, 2026
Measuring Dengue Virus RNA in the Culture Supernatant of Infected Cells by Real-time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction
Published on: November 1, 2018
Paula Rodrigues Zanello1, Andrea Cristine Koishi2, Celso de Oliveira Rezende Júnior3
1Laboratório de Virologia Molecular, Instituto Carlos Chagas, ICC/Fiocruz, 81350-010, Curitiba, PR, Brazil. paula.zanello@hotmail.com.
Background:
Dengue is the most prevalent arboviral disease in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. The incidence of infection is estimated to be 390 million cases and 25,000 deaths per year. Despite these numbers, neither a specific treatment nor a preventive vaccine is available to protect people living in areas of high risk.
Results:
With the aim of seeking a treatment that can mitigate dengue infection, we demonstrated that the quinic acid derivatives known as compound 2 and compound 10 were effective against all four dengue virus serotypes and safe for use in a human hepatoma cell line (Huh7.5). Both compounds were non-virucidal to dengue virus particles and did not interfere with early steps of the dengue virus life cycle, including binding and internalization. Experiments using a replicon system demonstrated that compounds 2 and 10 impaired dengue virus replication in Huh7.5 cells. Additionally, the anti-dengue virus effects of the quinic acid derivatives were preserved in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
Conclusions:
Taken together, these data suggest that quinic acid derivatives represent a novel chemical class of active compounds that could be used to combat dengue virus infection.
