THE OUTBREAK OF SARS WARRANTS THE SEARCH FOR ANTIVIRAL COMPOUNDS TO TREAT THE DISEASE. GLYCYRRHIZIN, AN ACTIVE COMPONENT OF LIQUORICE ROOTS, AND REPLICATION OF SARS-ASSOCIATED CORONAVIRUS

The outbreak of SARS warrants the search for antiviral compounds to treat the disease. At present, no specific treatment has been identified for SARS-associated coronavirus infection. We assessed the antiviral potential of ribavirin, 6-azauridine, pyrazofurin, mycophenolic acid, and glycyrrhizin against two clinical isolates of coronavirus (FFM-1 and FFM-2) from patients with SARS admitted to the clinical centre of Frankfurt University, Germany. Of all the compounds, glycyrrhizin was the most active in inhibiting replication of the SARS-associated virus. Our findings suggest that glycyrrhizin should be assessed for treatment of SARS. Lancet 2003; 361: 2045–46