• The effect of Lactobacillus ruteri supernatant on the replication of herpes virus type 1 and expression of UL54, UL52 and UL27 genes
  • faezeh ebneali,1,* mohammad shayestehpour,2 amirhossein tashakor,3
    1. Department of Microbiology and immunology, faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of medical sciences, Kashan, Iran
    2. Department of Microbiology and immunology, faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of medical sciences, Kashan, Iran
    3. Department of Microbiology, faculty of Medicine, isfahan University of medical sciences, isfahan, Iran


  • Introduction: Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection is a widespread and incurable viral disease in the human population with more than 90% of the individuals being seropositive to the pathogen. Due to increasing resistance to its primary drug, acyclovir, It is clinically significant to try alternative drugs with a different mode of action. Recently various lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and their post-metabolites have shown many antiviral effects. The aim of present study was to evaluate the effect of Lactobacillus ruteri supernatant on the replication of Herpes simplex virus type 1.
  • Methods: In this interventional study, The MTT assay was used to determine the possible cytotoxicity of the Lactobacillus ruteri supernatant. HeLa cells were treated with bacterial supernatant, and HSV-1 under pre-treatment (incubation of HeLa cells with bacterial supernatant then HSV-1 inoculation), pre-incubation (mixture of co-incubated HSV-1/bacterial supernatant added to HeLa cell), competition (adding HSV-1 and bacterial supernatant into HeLa cells simultaneously) and post-treatment (HeLa cells inoculated with HSV-1 then incubated with bacterial supernatant) assays. Viral titer reduction (TCID50) and expression of UL54, UL52, and UL27 genes by real-time PCR were measured in each experimental condition. t-student statistical test was used to evaluate the results.
  • Results: The results indicated that the HSV-1 titer under pre-treatment, pre-incubation, competition, and post-treatment decreased 0.42, 3.42, 1.83, and 0.83 Log10TCID50/mL respectively. Bacterial supernatant had the greatest reduction activity toward the expression of UL54, UL52, and UL27 genes in the pre-incubation assay. The expression of the genes did not show a significant decrease under post-treatment conditions.
  • Conclusion: The results indicated that the supernatant of Lactobacillus ruteri has a significant inhibitory effect on herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replication under pre-incubation and competition circumstances. It could be considered a novel inhibitor for HSV-1 infection.
  • Keywords: Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1, Probiotic, Lactobacillus