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Inhibitory effect of the green tea molecule EGCG against dengue virus infection

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Abstract

Dengue virus (DENV) infection is a major public health problem worldwide; however, specific antiviral drugs against it are not available. Hence, identifying effective antiviral agents for the prevention of DENV infection is important. In this study, we showed that the reportedly highly biologically active green-tea component epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) inhibited dengue virus infection regardless of infecting serotype, but no or minimal inhibition was observed with other flaviviruses, including Japanese encephalitis virus, yellow fever virus, and Zika virus. EGCG exerted its antiviral effect mainly at the early stage of infection, probably by interacting directly with virions to prevent virus infection. Our results suggest that EGCG specifically targets DENV and might be used as a lead structure to develop an antiviral drug for use against the virus.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to members of the Department of Virology, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan, for their support. This research was supported by the Japan Initiative for Global Research Network on Infectious Diseases (J-GRID) of Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).

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Correspondence to Kouichi Morita.

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Handling Editor: Zhongjie Shi.

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Raekiansyah, M., Buerano, C.C., Luz, M.A.D. et al. Inhibitory effect of the green tea molecule EGCG against dengue virus infection. Arch Virol 163, 1649–1655 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-018-3769-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-018-3769-y

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