Synergistic effects by combination of ganciclovir and tricin on human cytomegalovirus replication in vitro

- Combination treatment with GCV and tricin to HCMV replication was studied.
- We found strong synergistic effects on HCMV replication by GCV and tricin.
- Tricin is a novel compound for combination therapy with GCV against HCMV replication.

It has been demonstrated as the first report that combination treatment with ganciclovir (GCV) and tricin (4′,5,7-trihydroxy-3′,5′ -dimethoxyflavone), a derivative of Sasa albo-marginata, after human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection has synergistic effects on both infectious virus production and HCMV DNA synthesis in the human embryonic fibroblast cell line MRC-5. In this paper, we examined the anti-HCMV effects of GCV plus various concentrations of tricin, and tricin plus various concentrations of GCV in MRC-5 cells. We found that expression of the HCMV UL54 gene was significantly inhibited by combination of GCV with tricin when compared with GCV mono-treatment. These results suggest that tricin is a novel compound for combination therapy with GCV against HCMV replication. In addition, reduced-dose combination therapy may provide a direction for treatment in patients with HCMV infection while reducing drug toxicity.