The proanthocyanidin-rich compound Oximacro® affects the early stages of HIV-1 replication

Background: In the past years, advances in HIV-1 drug therapy have transformed HIV-1 infection from a lethal to a manageable chronic disease. However, in spite of favourable outcomes provided by the newer therapies, HAART is not curative and patients are at risk of developing HIV-associated disorders. Thus, the development of new inhibitors able to interfere with the early stages of the viral replication would be mandatory for the future anti-HIV-1 therapeutic treatments. Natural compounds and plant-derived extracts are becoming relevant sources of many substances, active against different processes of HIV-1 replication (Cos et al., 2008). Recently, Oximacro®, a cranberry extract rich in proanthocyanidins, resulted to be a promising natural candidate for the development of novel drug formulation for the prevention of HSV-1 and HSV-2 infection (Terlizzi et al., 2016), leading the way for the investigating it also against HIV-1 infection. Methods: First of all, Oximacro® cytotoxicity was evaluated in T lymphoblastoid Jurkat cells, PM1 cells and TZM-bl cells. Next, with the aim of assessing the antiviral potency of the compound, its effect on the early phases of HIV-1 infection was evaluated by transient trans-complementation assays performed. Furthermore, the efficacy of Oximacro® against de novo HIV-1 infection was determined. Results and discussion: Overall, our data indicate that Oximacro® has an effect on the early phases of HIV-1 replication and might represent a valuable drug candidate. Studies are ongoing, to further assess the mechanism of action of Oximacro® towards HIV-1 replication.