Antiviral activity of cepharanthine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus in vitro

作者：Zhang, CH; Wang, YF^*; Liu, XJ; Lu, JH; Qian, CW; Wan, ZY; Yan, XG; Zheng, HY; Zhang, MY; Xiong, S; Li, JX; Qi, SY

来源：Chinese Medical Journal, 2005, 118(6): 493-496.

• cepharanthine
• severe acute respiratory syndrome
• coronavirus
• antiviral activity

Severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) is the first severe viral epidemic we encountered this century, which once spread in more than thirty countries in 2003.(1) The etiological agent of SARS has been confirmed to be a novel coronavirus,(2,3) namely SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), and the first outbreak of SARS has been successfully controlled worldwide, but the identification of SARS-CoV isolated from wild animals, the emergence of some sporadic SARS cases later after that outbreak, all suggest that the recurrence of such an epidemic is not unlikely in the future. In this case, development of SARS vaccines and specific drugs is undoubtedly essential to the control and prevention from the possible outbreak.(4,5)
Compared with other known coronavirus, SARS-CoV is novel, mutative and highly infectious.(6,7) There are no commercially available antiviral agents tailored-made for SARS-CoV by now. China owns plenty of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, screening natural anti-SARS-CoV agents should be an important direction for the development of antiviral drugs. Cepharanthine is a pure alkaloid compound extracted from a Chinese medicinal plant. The present study was performed with the objective of determining the anti-SARS-CoV activity of cepharanthine in vitro.

• 出版日期2005-3-20
• 单位中山大学; 暨南大学; 皖西学院; 中国科学院