Jwaziri Abdulhussain Kadhim, Salavatiha Zahra, Kiani Seyed Jalal, Khales Pegah, Vazirzadeh Masoud, Tavakoli Ahmad
Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Kerbala, Karbala, Iraq.
Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Adv Virol. 2025 Aug 17;2025:3088529. doi: 10.1155/av/3088529. eCollection 2025.
Herpes simplex virus Type 1 (HSV-1) causes a wide spectrum of diseases in humans, including skin and mucosal ulcers, encephalitis, and keratitis. Acyclovir is regarded as the gold standard for treating infections with this virus. However, there are certain drawbacks to using this drug, such as its ineffectiveness against treatment-resistant virus strains. Therefore, the development of novel and effective drugs to combat this virus is urgently needed. The present work aims to explore the efficacy of magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgONPs) against HSV-1 in vitro as a potential novel antiviral agent. MgONPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscope, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential. To assess the cytotoxic effects of MgONPs on Vero cells, the neutral red uptake assay was used. The effects of MgONPs at nontoxic concentrations on HSV-1 were then examined using a quantitative real-time PCR assay. No toxic effect was observed in all used concentrations of MgONPs (up to a concentration of 1000 μg/mL). Three-hour incubation of HSV-1 with MgONPs at concentrations of 900 and 1000 μg/mL resulted in a remarkable decrease in viral load with an inhibition rate of 93.6% and 96.8%, respectively. The results from the posttreatment assay also showed that MgONPs at concentrations of 300 and 1000 μg/mL led to a significant decrease in viral load with an inhibition rate of 99.5% and 99.7%, respectively. MgONPs can exert their inhibitory effects on HSV-1 in a dose-dependent manner, both directly and through interfering with the replication cycle of the virus.
1型单纯疱疹病毒（HSV-1）可导致人类多种疾病，包括皮肤和黏膜溃疡、脑炎及角膜炎。阿昔洛韦被视为治疗该病毒感染的金标准。然而，使用这种药物存在一些缺点，比如对耐药病毒株无效。因此，迫切需要研发新型有效的抗该病毒药物。目前的工作旨在探索氧化镁纳米颗粒（MgONPs）作为一种潜在的新型抗病毒剂在体外对HSV-1的疗效。通过X射线衍射、能量色散X射线光谱、场发射扫描电子显微镜、紫外可见分光光度法、傅里叶变换红外光谱、动态光散射和zeta电位对MgONPs进行了表征。为评估MgONPs对Vero细胞的细胞毒性作用，采用了中性红摄取试验。然后使用定量实时PCR试验检测无毒浓度的MgONPs对HSV-1的影响。在所有使用的MgONPs浓度（高达1000μg/mL）下均未观察到毒性作用。HSV-1与浓度为900和1000μg/mL的MgONPs孵育3小时后，病毒载量显著下降，抑制率分别为93.6%和96.8%。治疗后试验结果还表明，浓度为300和1000μg/mL的MgONPs导致病毒载量显著下降，抑制率分别为99.5%和99.7%。MgONPs可直接或通过干扰病毒复制周期以剂量依赖方式对HSV-1发挥抑制作用。
