Investigating the Safety and Efficacy of the Synthetic Drug Herbix on Immune Responses Involved in the Treatment of a Mouse Model of Herpes Simplex Virus

Abstract

Herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) infections can cause significant harm to individuals, including blindness, congenital defects, genital herpes, and even cancer, with no definitive cure .so, finding new treatment strategies is crucial. In this study, 25 male BALB/c mice were used to conduct a mouse model of herpes by subcutaneously injecting an HSV-1 suspension (100 µL of 1×  PFU/mL). The mice were divided into 5 groups with groups 1 to 3 designated as intervention groups, and groups 4 and 5 serving as positive and negative control groups, respectively. After 2 days of virus inoculation, the mice were treated with different concentrations of Herbix (100, 200, and 300 mg/mL) via subcutaneous injection. Mice Blood samples (0.5 to 1 mL) were taken from the mice before and after the experiments, and after three-week follow-up period, the mice were sacrificed and the spleens were removed for lymphocyte analysis. we found that administration of Herbix at a dose of 300 mg/mL showed the greatest efficacy, characterized by a delay in skin lesion formation, an increment in survival rate and lymphocyte proliferation, upregulation of the gene expression of interferon alpha (IFN-α) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and an increase in the polarization of cytotoxic and helper T lymphocytes compared to the control group. These results suggest that Herbix at a dose of 300 mg/mL is effective in treating murine herpes and stimulating immune responses, making it a potential candidate for further investigation as an antiherpetic drug.