The citrus flavanone naringenin impairs dengue virus replication in human cells

  • Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 3;7:41864. doi: 10.1038/srep41864.
Sandra Frabasile  1  2 ,  Andrea Cristine Koishi  2 ,  Diogo Kuczera  2 ,  Guilherme Ferreira Silveira  2 ,  Waldiceu Aparecido Verri Jr  3 ,  Claudia Nunes Duarte Dos Santos  1 ,  Juliano Bordignon  1
Affiliations
  • 1. Sección Virologia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de La República, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay.
  • 2. Laboratório de Virologia Molecular, Instituto Carlos Chagas, ICC/FIOCRUZ/PR, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
  • 3. Departamento de Ciências Patológicas, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
PMID: 28157234 DOI: 10.1038/srep41864
Abstract

Dengue is one of the most significant health problems in tropical and sub-tropical regions throughout the world. Nearly 390 million cases are reported each year. Although a vaccine was recently approved in certain countries, an anti-dengue virus drug is still needed. Fruits and vegetables may be sources of compounds with medicinal properties, such as Flavonoids. This study demonstrates the anti-dengue virus activity of the citrus flavanone naringenin, a class of flavonoid. Naringenin prevented Infection with four Dengue Virus serotypes in Huh7.5 cells. Additionally, experiments employing subgenomic RepDV-1 and RepDV-3 replicon systems confirmed the ability of naringenin to inhibit Dengue Virus replication. Antiviral activity was observed even when naringenin was used to treat Huh7.5 cells 24 h after Dengue Virus exposure. Finally, naringenin anti-dengue virus activity was demonstrated in primary human monocytes infected with Dengue Virus sertoype-4, supporting the potential use of naringenin to control Dengue Virus replication. In conclusion, naringenin is a suitable candidate molecule for the development of specific Dengue Virus treatments.

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