Intracellular Redox State as Target for Anti-Influenza Therapy: Are Antioxidants Always Effective?

Title:Intracellular Redox State as Target for Anti-Influenza Therapy: Are Antioxidants Always Effective?

Volume: 14 Issue: 22

Author(s): Rossella Sgarbanti, Donatella Amatore, Ignacio Celestino, Maria Elena Marcocci, Alessandra Fraternale, Maria Rosa Ciriolo, Mauro Magnani, Raffaele Saladino, Enrico Garaci, Anna Teresa Palamara and Lucia Nencioni

Affiliation:

• Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.,Italy

Keywords: Anti-influenza therapy, Antioxidants, Antivirals, Influenza virus, Oxidative stress, Redox state.

Abstract: Influenza virus infections represent a big issue for public health since effective treatments are still lacking. In particular, the emergence of strains resistant to drugs limits the effectiveness of anti-influenza agents. For this reason, many efforts have been dedicated to the identification of new therapeutic strategies aimed at targeting the virus-host cell interactions. Oxidative stress is a characteristic of some viral infections including influenza. Because antioxidants defend cells from damage caused by reactive oxygen species induced by different stimuli including pathogens, they represent interesting molecules to fight infectious diseases. However, most of the available studies have found that these would-be panaceas could actually exacerbate the diseases they claim to prevent, and have thus revealed "the dark side" of these molecules. This review article discusses the latest opportunities and drawbacks of the antioxidants used in anti-influenza therapy and new perspectives.

Cite this article as:

Sgarbanti Rossella, Amatore Donatella, Celestino Ignacio, Marcocci Elena Maria, Fraternale Alessandra, Ciriolo Rosa Maria, Magnani Mauro, Saladino Raffaele, Garaci Enrico, Palamara Teresa Anna and Nencioni Lucia, Intracellular Redox State as Target for Anti-Influenza Therapy: Are Antioxidants Always Effective?, Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 2014; 14(22) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568026614666141203125211