Licking latency with licorice.

Numerous viruses cause latent infections in humans, and reactivation often results in pain and suffering. While vaccines for several of these viruses are available or currently being studied in clinical trials, and antiviral therapies have been successful in preventing or treating active infection, therapy to eradicate latent infection has lagged behind. A new study reported in this issue of the JCI shows that treatment of cells latently infected with Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) with glycyrrhizic acid, a component of licorice, reduces synthesis of a viral latency protein and induces apoptosis of infected cells. This finding suggests a novel way to interrupt latency.

[1]  F. Curreli,et al.  Glycyrrhizic acid alters Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus latency, triggering p53-mediated apoptosis in transformed B lymphocytes. , 2005, The Journal of clinical investigation.

[2]  H. Heslop,et al.  Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Therapy for Epstein-Barr Virus+ Hodgkin's Disease , 2004, The Journal of experimental medicine.

[3]  P. Chaudhary,et al.  Activation of alternative NF-κB pathway by human herpes virus 8-encoded Fas-associated death domain-like IL-1β-converting enzyme inhibitory protein (vFLIP) , 2004 .

[4]  E. Cesarman,et al.  KSHV vFLIP Is Essential for the Survival of Infected Lymphoma Cells , 2004, The Journal of experimental medicine.

[5]  S. Kenney,et al.  Lytic Induction Therapy for Epstein-Barr Virus-Positive B-Cell Lymphomas , 2004, Journal of Virology.

[6]  G. Feldman,et al.  Inhibition of STAT3 signaling induces apoptosis and decreases survivin expression in primary effusion lymphoma. , 2003, Blood.

[7]  D. Faller,et al.  Epstein–Barr virus post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disease and virus‐specific therapy: pharmacological re‐activation of viral target genes with arginine butyrate , 2001, Transplant infectious disease : an official journal of the Transplantation Society.

[8]  P. Moore,et al.  Molecular virology of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. , 2001, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[9]  J Meulenbelt,et al.  THE PHARMACOKINETICS OF GLYCYRRHIZIC ACID EVALUATED BY PHYSIOLOGICALLY BASED PHARMACOKINETIC MODELING† , 2001, Drug metabolism reviews.

[10]  P. Furth,et al.  Epstein-Barr virus-targeted therapy for AIDS-related primary lymphoma of the central nervous system , 2000, The Lancet.

[11]  E. Cesarman,et al.  Inhibition of NF-kappaB induces apoptosis of KSHV-infected primary effusion lymphoma cells. , 2000, Blood.

[12]  S. Mori,et al.  Expression and localization of human herpesvirus 8-encoded proteins in primary effusion lymphoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and multicentric Castleman's disease. , 2000, Virology.

[13]  M. Corbellino,et al.  Differential viral protein expression in Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-infected diseases: Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and multicentric Castleman's disease. , 2000, The American journal of pathology.

[14]  G. Tosato,et al.  Role of vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular permeability factor in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-infected primary effusion lymphomas. , 1999, Blood.

[15]  A. Foussat,et al.  Human interleukin-6 is in vivo an autocrine growth factor for human herpesvirus-8-infected malignant B lymphocytes. , 1999, European cytokine network.

[16]  W. Hop,et al.  Pharmacokinetics of intravenous glycyrrhizin after single and multiple doses in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. , 1999, Clinical therapeutics.

[17]  P. Moore,et al.  Involvement of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and viral IL-6 in the spontaneous growth of Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus-associated infected primary effusion lymphoma cells. , 1999, Blood.

[18]  G. Gaidano,et al.  Constitutive cytokine production by primary effusion (body cavity-based) lymphoma-derived cell lines , 1999, Leukemia.

[19]  J. Sample,et al.  Eradication of latent Epstein-Barr virus by hydroxyurea alters the growth-transformed cell phenotype. , 1998, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[20]  C. Boshoff,et al.  Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. , 1997, Advances in cancer research.

[21]  O. Carretero,et al.  Effect of inhibiting renal kallikrein on prostaglandin E2, water, and sodium excretion. , 1995, Hypertension.

[22]  R. Roman,et al.  Effect of an Angiotensin II and a Kinin Receptor Antagonist on the Renal Hemodynamic Response to Captopril , 1991, Hypertension.

[23]  H. Heslop,et al.  Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders. , 2005, Annual review of medicine.

[24]  P. Chaudhary,et al.  Activation of alternative NF-kappa B pathway by human herpes virus 8-encoded Fas-associated death domain-like IL-1 beta-converting enzyme inhibitory protein (vFLIP). , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[25]  O. Carretero,et al.  Effect of high salt intake in mutant mice lacking bradykinin-B2 receptors. , 1997, Hypertension.