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Dengue caused by dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-borne disease. Dengue exhibits a wide range of symptoms, ranging from asymptomatic to flu-like illness, and a few symptomatic cases may develop into severe dengue, leading to death. However, there are no effective and safe therapeutics for DENV infections. We have previously reported that cytokine expression, especially inflammatory cytokines, was altered in patients with different severities of dengue. Antrodia cinnamomea (A. cinnamomea) is a precious and endemic medical mushroom in Taiwan. It contains unique chemical components and exhibits biological activities, including suppressing effects on inflammation and viral infection-related diseases. According to previous studies, megakaryocytes can support DENV infection, and the number of megakaryocytes is positively correlated with the viral load in the serum of acute dengue patients. In the study, we investigated the anti-DENV effects of two ethanolic extracts (ACEs 1–2) and three isolated compounds (ACEs 3–5) from A. cinnamomea on DENV infection in Meg-01 cells. Our results not only demonstrated that ACE-3 and ACE-4 significantly suppressed DENV infection, but also reduced interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 levels. Moreover, the level of the antiviral cytokine interferon (IFN)-α was also increased by ACE-3 and ACE-4 in Meg-01 cells after DENV infection. Here, we provide new insights into the potential use of A. cinnamomea extracts as therapeutic agents against DENV infection. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying these processes require further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The clinical significance of TT virus (TTV) coinfection in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients and influence of TTV viremia on hepatitis C virus (HCV) response to high dose interferon-alpha therapy in Taiwan were investigated. Materials and Methods: Total 102 HCV RNA-positive CHC patients were enrolled. TTV DNA (using polymerase chain reaction primers derived from 5′ non-coding region and open reading frame 2), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), GB virus-C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) RNA, anti-E2 antibody, genotype and RNA levels of HCV were tested. Results: The prevalence of TTV DNA was 51.0%. The mean age of TTV viremic CHC patients was significant higher than non-viremic ones (P<0.05). HCV sustained viral response (SVR) was achieved in 42 (41.2%) patients. Based on multivariate regression analyses, SVR were significantly associated with low pretreatment HCV RNA levels, HCV genotype non-1b and high pretreatment levels of ALT but not TTV viremia. Conclusions: TTV viremia is highly prevalent among Taiwanese CHC patients and related to increased ages. Neither severity of liver disease nor replication and genotype distribution of HCV was affected by concurrent TTV infection. With high HCV SVR rate associated with pretreatment HCV RNA and ALT levels and HCV genotype, TTV viremia did not influence the HCV response. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]