In vitro antiviral activity of diterpenes isolated from the Brazilian brown alga Canistrocarpus cervicornis

Abstract

They describe in this paper that the dolastane diterpenes 4-hydroxy-9,14-dihydroxydolasta-1(15),7-diene (1) and 4,7,14-trihydroxydolasta-1(15),8-diene (2), isolated from the marine brown alga Canistrocarpus cervicornis inhibited HSV-1 infection in Vero cells. The concentration required to inhibit HSV-1 replication was not cytotoxic. Their results suggest that the structures of diterpenes 1 and 2, dolastane diterpenes from Brazilian brown algae, are promising for future antiviral drugs.   Key words: Canistrocarpus cervicornis, dictyotaceae, phaeophyceae, dolastane diterpene, cytotoxicity, antiviral against HSV-1.