New Drug to Treat HSV-1 in Development

Researchers at the University of Illinois, Chicago have been working on developing a new drug to treat HSV-1 infection with the potential of being generalized to combat other viral infections such as HSV-2 and HIV. This particular form of the drug targets HSV-1 infection in the cornea of the eye. Further development of a treatment like this has huge potential as HSV-1 is the leading cause of infectious blindness within the United States.

Current drugs that treat HSV-1 are nucleoside analogs that prevent the virus from creating any necessary replication-related proteins. With an eye infection, the current treatment is directly applied to the eye with a high risk of side effects and potentially resistance. And, once resistance to the nucleoside analogs is developed, there are not many other drugs currently available to prevent further spread of the virus. However, there is hope. This new drug "works in the host cells and helps them to clear the virus," says author of the paper. Deepak Shukla. The drug, called BX795, inhibits TBK1, an enzyme involved with the innate immunity of the body that generally promotes infection when suppressed. However, to the researchers' surprise, when high concentrations of BX795 was added to corneal cells infected with HSV-1, the infection was quickly cleared. The results were then replicated in mice.

An added benefit of this drug is that recently it was discovered that a fairly low concentration of BX795 is needed to clear HSV-1. This implies that it could potentially be used topically and for systemic, chronic usage. Additionally, Shukla explains that "there was no discernable toxicity or negative side effects...in cells that are not infected with the virus." While it is a little concerning that it is not completely understood how this drug works, the potential of its influence on viral infections is promising.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180215110339.htm 

-Alexandra