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Ordinary licorice may be weapon in fight against virus

A major ingredient in licorice has proven remarkably successful at combatting the SARS virus in lab-dish tests, according to a German study reported on Saturday in the British weekly journal The Lancet.

Glycyrrhizin, a compound extracted from licorice roots which has been previously explored in anti-viral research, was highly effective at stopping the SARS virus from reproducing, the authors say.

It easily beat out four other standard compounds used to block virus or tumorous cell replication -- including ribavirin.

The research is only a preliminary study and much further work is needed, assessing safety as well as effectiveness, before anyone can call glycyrrhizin a cure for SARS.

Even so, the findings are so positive that it should be taken seriously as a potential weapon in the fight against this disease, says the team, led by Jindrich Cinatl from Frankfurt University Medical School.

The experiment involved taking samples of the SARS virus from two patients with SARS who had been admitted to the university's medical center.

The viruses were then used to infect Vero cells, a tissue culture of monkey kidney cells that are a standard item of lab equipment.

The dishes were exposed to each of the five compounds and examined 72 to 96 hours later to see how many infected cells had reproduced.

Ribavirin -- a drug widely used against SARS but which has had very disappointing results -- did nothing to stop the virus sample from replicating.

Pyrazofurin and 6-azauridine had low and modest effect respectively, but were outclassed by glycyrrhizin, which was more than five times more effective than those two compounds and at high concentrations completely blocked replication.

Glycyrrhizin gets its name from Glycyrrhiza glabra, the Latin sobriquet for the licorice plant, which homeopathic medicine has long claimed to be useful in tackling respiratory, urinary and digestive irritations and infections of the mouth and throat. Licorice is especially used in Chinese medicine.

The extract is derived from licorice roots and takes the form of a yellow powder with a bittersweet taste.
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