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An antiviral chewing gum to reduce influenza and herpes simplex virus transmission (penntoday.upenn.edu)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

a chewing gum made from lablab beans, Lablab purpureus—that naturally contain an antiviral trap protein (FRIL)—to neutralize two herpes simplex viruses (HSV-1 and HSV-2) and two influenza A strains (H1N1 and H3N2). The chewing gum formulation allowed for effective and consistent release of FRIL at sites of viral infection.

They demonstrated that 40 milligrams of a two-gram bean gum tablet was adequate to reduce viral loads by more than 95%, a reduction similar to what they saw in their SARS-CoV-2 study.