{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T02:30:29Z","timestamp":1790994629856,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]],"date-time":"2024-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725926400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceuticals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Human coronaviruses are a continuous threat to the human population and have limited antiviral treatments, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic sparked interest in finding new antiviral strategies, such as natural products, to combat emerging coronaviruses. Rapid efforts in the scientific community to identify effective antiviral agents for coronaviruses remain a focus to minimize mortalities and global setbacks. In this study, an essential oil derived from Myrtus communis L. (MEO) is effective against HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43 virus infections in comparison to two FDA-approved drugs, Remdesivir and Nirmatrelvir. Gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry were used to identify the chemical composition of MEO. Slight antioxidant activity was observed in MEO, indicating a role in oxidative stress. A dose\u2013response curve measuring the EC50 indicates a high potency against HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43 virus infections on Huh7.5 cells with low cytotoxicity using a PrestoBlue cell viability assay. Our findings demonstrate that MEO exhibits potent antiviral activity against HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43 on Huh7.5 cells within a low-cytotoxicity range, but not on SARS-CoV-2. Artificial bacterial chromosome plasmids that expressed SARS-CoV-2 used for replicon\u2014to determine viral replication and viral assembly\/egress on HEK293T\/17 cells\u2014and virus-like particles on Huh7.5-AT cells\u2014to determine viral entry and assembly\/egress\u2014showed no antiviral activity with MEO in comparison to Remdesivir. This study reveals the potential effectiveness of MEO as an alternative natural remedy to treat human coronaviruses and a potential antiviral agent for future coronavirus infections.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ph17091189","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]],"date-time":"2024-09-10T03:16:51Z","timestamp":1725938211000},"page":"1189","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Myrtus communis L. Essential Oil Exhibits Antiviral Activity against Coronaviruses"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-3920-0340","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dar-Yin","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Center for ViroScience and Cure, Emory University School of Medicine, and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1750 Haygood Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7681-6194","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matthew G.","family":"Donadu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scuola di Specializzazione in Farmacia Ospedaliera, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"},{"name":"Hospital Pharmacy, Giovanni Paolo II Hospital, ASL Gallura, 07026 Olbia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Taylor","family":"Shue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Center for ViroScience and Cure, Emory University School of Medicine, and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1750 Haygood Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-3771-1279","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Georgios","family":"Dangas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Center for ViroScience and Cure, Emory University School of Medicine, and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1750 Haygood Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-6268-6683","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonis","family":"Athanasiadis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Center for ViroScience and Cure, Emory University School of Medicine, and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1750 Haygood Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shuiyun","family":"Lan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Center for ViroScience and Cure, Emory University School of Medicine, and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1750 Haygood Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xin","family":"Wen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Center for ViroScience and Cure, Emory University School of Medicine, and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1750 Haygood Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Basem","family":"Battah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Antioch Syrian Private University, M5, Damascus 22734, Syria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefania","family":"Zanetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9713-3306","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vittorio","family":"Mazzarello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefan G.","family":"Sarafianos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Center for ViroScience and Cure, Emory University School of Medicine, and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1750 Haygood Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7331-0032","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Ferrari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Via dell\u2019Istria, 65, 34137 Trieste, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eleftherios","family":"Michailidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Center for ViroScience and Cure, Emory University School of Medicine, and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1750 Haygood Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"WHO (2024, July 22). 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