• The inhibitory effect of bacterial metabolites on the replication of herpes simplex virus
  • Mohammad Shayestehpour,1,*
    1. Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran


  • Introduction: Human herpes virus (HSV) is a neurotropic pathogen belonging to the family Herpesviridae that is infected more than 70% of the world population. In order to treat herpes infections, nucleoside analogue antivirals such as acyclovir, vidarabine, famciclovir, valaciclovir, and penciclovir are typically used. However, in recent years, drug resistance has developed due to mutations in the DNA polymerase and thymidine kinase of the virus, which has resulted in a significant decline in their efficacy. Although foscarnet and cidofovir are also used to treat herpes virus infections, use of them has been constrained due to side effects such as toxicity and renal impairment. In the recent years researchers have motivated to study the use of probiotics as new antiviral agents. The aim of the present study was to study the antiviral activity of bacterial metabolites against HSV.
  • Methods: We searched PubMed. Web of science, Scopus, google scholar to find articles about inhibitory effect of bacterial metabolites on the replication of herpes simplex virus. All studied were collected, studied and analyzed by two researchers.
  • Results: Majority of studies showed that the bacterial supernatant was able to significantly reduce virus replication when it entered the cells after incubation with the virus or at the same time. Data of a study showed that the cell free supernatant of L. fermentum had a potent antiviral effect when it was in contact with HSV-1 for one hour. Another study demonstrated a significant decrease in HSV-1 titer (1.25 log TCID50 /ml) using the L. acidophilus supernatant. The result of a study showed that the metabolites of L. reuteri reduced HSV-1 titer by 1.83 Log TCID50 /ml. The anti-HSV-2 ability of the L. rhamnosus super natant has been reported. In several studies, he supernatant of some Lactobacillus spp. including L. crispatus, L. gasseri CMUL57, L. acidophilus CMUL67 and L. plantarum CMUL140 had not anti-HSV-2 activity.
  • Conclusion: Metabolites of some bacteria can be considered as a novel inhibitor of HSV infection with potential of therapeutics.
  • Keywords: bacterial metabolites, herpes simplex virus, inhibitory, antiviral