South Korean scientists have isolated and purified an active ingredient from Cynanchum atratum, a flowering plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, called deoxypergularinine (DPG) and developed and tested multiple analogues of the compound for their ability to inhibit M. tuberculosis without harming infected cells. PP derivates of DPG specifically inhibited normal and drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis without significantly changing the intestinal microbiome in mice.
Systematic collection and analysis of natural marine compounds and the review of life histories and genomics of three families of RNA viruses reveal compounds that could disrupt viral spread and offers hope for developing new viral therapeutics.