Novel Antiviral Activity of Ethyl 3-Hydroxyhexanoate Against Coxsackievirus B Infection

Abstract

Coxsackievirus group B (CVB) is a member of the genus Enterovirus in the family Picornaviridae. CVB infection has been implicated as a major etiologic agent of viral myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, meningitis, and pancreatitis among children and young adults. Until date, no antiviral agent has been licensed for the treatment of Coxsackievirus infection. In an effort to identify antiviral agents against diseases caused by the CVB, we found that ethyl 3-hydroxyhexanoate (EHX), a volatile compound present in fruits and food additives, is a potent antiviral compound. In this study, we demonstrated that EHX treatment significantly inhibits CVB replication both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, EHX possesses antiviral activity at 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 1.2 μM and 50% cytotoxicity (CC50) of 25.6 μM, yielding a selective index (SI) value as high as 20.8. Insights into the mechanism of antiviral activity of EHX showed that it acts at the step of viral RNA replication. Since EHX has received approval as food additives, treatment of CVB-related infections with EHX might be a safe therapeutic option and may be a promising strategy for the development of semi-synthetic antiviral drugs for viral diseases.

Therapeutics for fulminant hepatitis caused by enteroviruses in neonates

“…Ethyl 3hydroxyhexanoate (EHX) is a fatty acid ethyl ester of 3hydroxyhexanoic acid, which is a key volatile compound in several fruits and is a potent antiviral compound (Medina et al, 2020). Olasunkanmi et al (2022) demonstrated that EHX treatment significantly inhibits CVB replication both in vivo and in vitro.…”