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In our increasingly interconnected world, the danger of infectious diseases is on the rise, a reality underscored by events such as the coronavirus pandemic along with outbreaks of viruses like H1N1, SARS, Ebola, Zika, and H5N1 (bird flu). These outbreaks have led to significant consequences for global health and economic stability.
However, it is not only high-profile viral outbreaks that should concern us; more prevalent viral infections also pose substantial health risks and economic burdens. Seasonal influenza, for instance, contributes to a notable global disease burden, with annual economic losses in the United States alone surpassing $11.2 billion. Additionally, herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), predominantly transmitted through oral contact, infects over two-thirds of people worldwide and is a leading cause of infectious blindness in many Western countries.
The low vaccination rates for influenza and the absence of an effective HSV vaccine highlight the urgent need for innovative strategies to combat these viral threats. A promising direction for research is the targeting of viral loads at the primary sites of infection, particularly the oral cavity, where transmission of certain viruses is more efficient than through the nasal passages.
A recent study published in Molecular Therapy by researchers from the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, alongside researchers in Finland, explores this avenue. Building on previous findings indicating that a similar method could reduce SARS-CoV-2 levels in saliva and swab samples of COVID-19 patients by over 95%, the team, led by Henry Daniell, the W.D. Miller Professor at Penn, tested a novel chewing gum formulation derived from lablab beans, Lablab purpureus. This formulation contains a naturally occurring antiviral trap protein known as FRIL and was evaluated for its efficacy against two herpes simplex virus strains (HSV-1 and HSV-2) as well as two influenza A strains (H1N1 and H3N2).
The study found that a two-gram gum tablet containing 40 milligrams of FRIL was sufficient to reduce viral loads by more than 95%, mirroring the results achieved in their SARS-CoV-2 research.
Crucially, the gum was formulated as a clinical-grade product in accordance with FDA requirements, ensuring its safety for further testing. Daniell expressed optimism about these findings, stating, “These observations augur well for evaluating bean gum in human clinical studies to minimize virus infection/transmission.”
In light of the ongoing impact of bird flu in North America, where 54 million birds have been affected by H5N1 in the past three months and reports of human infections have surfaced in the U.S. and Canada, Daniell and his team are directing their efforts towards using lablab bean powder as a potential intervention against this virus. Previous research has shown that bean powder can effectively neutralize H5N1 and H7N9, both strains of influenza A associated with bird flu.
The researchers are currently exploring the possibility of incorporating this bean powder into bird feed to help mitigate the transmission of bird flu among avian populations. Daniell commented on the broader implications of their work: “Controlling transmission of viruses continues to be a major global challenge. A broad-spectrum antiviral protein (FRIL) present in a natural food product (bean powder) can neutralize not only human influenza viruses but also avian flu viruses, making it a timely innovation in our efforts to prevent infection and transmission.”
Henry Daniell is the W.D. Miller Professor in the Department of Basic & Translational Sciences at the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Other contributors to this research include Gary H. Cohen, Yuwei Guo, Uddhab Karki, Rachel J. Kulchar, Rahul Singh, and Geetanjali Wakade from Penn Dental Medicine, along with Hamid Khazaei from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and the University of Finland and Juha-Matti Pihlava from the University of Finland.
This research conducted in Daniell’s lab has received support from NIH grant R01 HL 107904.
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