Cited by 89Viral Infections and Outbreaks ResearchMedicinal Plant ResearchEssential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity

The natural product eugenol is an inhibitor of the ebola virus in vitro

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Lane, Thomas, Anantpadma, Manu, Freundlich, Joel S., Davey, Robert A., Madrid, Peter B., Ekins, Sean·2019·Pharmaceutical Research

Abstract

Purpose Since the 2014 Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak in West Africa there has been considerable effort towards developing drugs to treat Ebola virus disease and yet to date there is no FDA approved treatment. This is important as at the time of writing this manuscript there is an ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which has killed over 1000.Methods We have evaluated a small number of natural products, some of which had shown antiviral activity against other pathogens. This is exemplified with eugenol, which is found in high concentrations in multiple essential oils, and has shown antiviral activity against feline calicivirus, tomato yellow leaf curl virus, Influenza A virus, Herpes Simplex virus type 1 and 2, and four airborne phages.Results Four compounds possessed EC 50 values less than or equal to 11 μM. Of these, eugenol, had an EC 50 of 1.3 μM against EBOV and is present in several plants including clove, cinnamon, basil and bay. Eugenol is much smaller and structurally unlike any compound that has been previously identified as an inhibitor of EBOV, therefore it may provide new mechanistic insights.Conclusion This compound is readily accessible in bulk quantities, is inexpensive, and has a long history of human consumption, which endorses the idea for further assessment as an antiviral therapeutic. This work also suggests that a more exhaustive assessment of natural product libraries against EBOV and other viruses is warranted to improve our ability to identify compounds that are so distinct from FDA approved drugs.

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  • CEO has shown antiviral activity against Ebola, influenza A virus, and herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2.

    “CEO has shown antiviral activity against Ebola [111], influenza A virus [112], and herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 [111].”

    From Clove essential oil (Syzygium aromaticum L. Myrtaceae): Extraction, chemical composition, food applications, and essential bioactivity for human health (2021) · cites this paper as [111]

    The paper’s results report in-vitro activity against Ebola for eugenol, and its discussion reports eugenol’s activity against herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2. It says eugenol is found in clove essential oil, but does not establish that clove essential oil (CEO) itself has the claimed antiviral activity. Influenza A is separately cited to [112] in the citing sentence. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [8]Kaiser R Meaningful scents around the world. Zurich: Wiley, VCH; 2006.
  2. [21]Johansen LM, Brannan JM, Delos SE, Shoemaker CJ, Stossel A, Lear C, Hoffstrom BG, Dewald LE, Schornberg KL, Scully C, Lehar J, Hensley LE, White JM, Olinger GG. FDA-approved selective estrogen receptor modulators inhibit Ebola virus infection. Sci Transl Med. 2013; 5(190): 190ra179. PMC3955358 23785035
  3. [71]Young DW. Considerations related to small-molecule screening collections In: Bittker JA, Ross NT, editors. High Throughput Screening Methods: Evolution and Refinement. Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry; 2017 p. 16– 36.

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Authors
Lane, T., Anantpadma, M., Freundlich, J. S., Davey, R. A., Madrid, P. B., & Ekins, S.
Affiliations
  • Collaborations Pharmaceuticals (United States) (US)
  • Boston University (US)
  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
  • SRI International (US)
Corresponding author
Ekins, Sean
Venue
Pharmaceutical Research
Published
2019-05-17
Volume
36
Issue
7
Pages
104-104
ISSN
  • 0724-8741 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-904X
OpenAlex
W2946005238
Cited by
88
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 1
FWCI
7.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Pharmaceutical Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (R21TR001718)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Medicinal Plant Research
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity
Keywords
eugenol, Ebola virus, antiviral activity, natural products, essential oils, Syzygium aromaticum, cinnamon, Ocimum basilicum, bays
MeSH terms
Antiviral Agents, Biological Products, Eugenol, HeLa Cells, Humans, Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola, Ebolavirus

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