Antiviral activity of red algae phycocolloids against herpes simplex virus type 2 in vitro

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is a human infectious agent with significant impact on public health due to its high prevalence in the population and its ability to elicit a wide range of diseases, from mild to severe. Although several antiviral drugs, such as acyclovir, are currently available to treat HSV-2-related clinical manifestations, their effectiveness is poor. Therefore, the identification and development of new antiviral drugs against HSV-2 is necessary. Seaweeds are attractive candidates for such purposes because they are a vast source of natural products due to their highly diverse compounds, many with demonstrated biological activity. In this study, we evaluated the in vitro antiviral potential of red algae extracts obtained from Agarophyton chilense, Mazzaella laminarioides, Porphyridium cruentum, and Porphyridium purpureum against HSV-2. The phycocolloids agar and carrageenan obtained from the macroalgae dry biomass of A. chilense and M. laminarioides and the exopolysaccharides from P. cruentum and P. purpureum were evaluated. The cytotoxicity of these extracts and the surpluses obtained in the extraction process of the agar and carrageenans were evaluated in human epithelial cells (HeLa cells) in addition to their antiviral activity against HSV-2, which were used to calculate selectivity indexes (SIs). Several compounds displayed antiviral activity against HSV-2, but carrageenans were not considered as a potential antiviral therapeutic agent when compared to the other algae extracts with a SI of 23.3. Future assays in vivo models for HSV-2 infection should reveal the therapeutic potential of these algae compounds as new antivirals against this virus.