Antiviral and Immunological Activity of a New Pavine Alkaloid (-)-Thalimonine Isolated fromThalictrum simplex

Abstract

A pavine alkaloid (-)-thalimonine, at a nontoxic concentration range between 0.1 and 100 μM was investigated for antiviral and immunological activity. The alkaloid irreversibly inhibited the replication of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in MDBK cells with no effect on free virions. The (-)-thalimonine enhanced the proliferation induced by T-cell mitogens (PHA, ConA) at lower concentrations and suppressed the action of B-cell mitogen (LPS) in vitro. Splenic cells from mice pretreated with (-)-thalimonine had an elevated response to PHA and a lowered response to LPS.