Alpha-mangostin inhibits viral replication and suppresses nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB)-mediated inflammation in dengue virus infection. - GreenMedInfo Summary

Severe dengue virus (DENV) infection results from viral replication and dysregulated host immune response, which trigger massive cytokine production/cytokine storm. The result is severe vascular leakage, hemorrhagic diathesis, and organ dysfunction. Subsequent to previously proposing that an ideal drug for treatment of DENV infection should efficiently inhibit both virus production and cytokine storm, we discovered thatα-mangostin (α-MG) from the pericarp of the mangosteen fruit could inhibit both DENV infection and cytokine/chemokine production. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects ofα-MG. Time-of-drug-addition and time-of-drug-elimination studies suggested thatα-MG inhibits the replication step of the DENV life cycle.α-MG inhibited polymerization activity of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) with IC50 values of 16.50 μM and significantly reduced viral RNA and protein syntheses, and virion production. Antiviral and cytokine/chemokine gene expression profiles ofα-MG-treated DENV-2-infected cells were investigated by polymerase chain reaction array.α-MG suppressed the expression of 37 antiviral and cytokine/chemokine genes that relate to the NF-κB signaling pathway. Immunofluorescence and immunoblot analyses revealed thatα-MG inhibits NF-κB nuclear translocation in DENV-2-infected cells in association with reduced RANTES, IP-10, TNF-α, and IL-6 production. These results suggestα-MG as a potential treatment for DENV infection.