Licking Latency With Licorice

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No, I did not make that title up. This one is for Agent Bleu.

J Clin Invest. 2005 Mar;115(3):591-3.

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J Clin Invest. 2005 Mar;115(3):642-52.

Licking latency with licorice.

Cohen JI.

Medical Virology Section, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious

Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, land 20892, USA. jcohen@...

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.

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PMID: 15765143 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]