Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine have created a chewing gum that can neutralize viruses responsible for causing influenza and herpes in humans. 

This antiviral gum is made using lablab beans (hyacinth beans), which contain a unique protein capable of reducing virus count by 95 percent. The gum stops the viruses in the mouth only, preventing them from entering and infecting other body parts. 

This is an important breakthrough because viruses, including influenza and herpes simplex that collectively affect over a billion people globally each year, are transmitted through the mouth. Moreover, traditional vaccines may not fully prevent their transmission, especially for viruses like HSV (herpes simplex virus), for which there is no vaccine at all.

This “underscores the need for a new approach—one that targets reducing viral loads at the sites where transmission occurs—and for viruses like these, which are transmitted more efficiently through the mouth than the nose, this means focusing on the oral cavity,” Deborah Stull wrote for Penn Today.

The magic of FRIL

Lablab beans contain a protein called FRIL. It’s a plant-derived lectin (a type of protein that binds to carbohydrates) that can bind to complex sugars on the surface of viruses, effectively trapping them and preventing them from infecting cells.

During a previous experiment, scientists used the same protein to neutralize the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and swine flu (H1N1) in mice, and the results were impressive.

“We show that the lectin FRIL has anti-influenza and anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. It can neutralize 11 representative human and avian influenza strains at low nanomolar concentrations, and intranasal administration of FRIL is protective against lethal H1N1 infection in mice,” researchers of the previous study note. 

This time, the scientists at Penn Dental Medicine incorporated FRIL in a two-gram gum tablet and conducted experiments where it was tested against two types of herpes simplex viruses (HSV-1 and HSV-2) and two strains of influenza A (H1N1 and H3N2). 

They found that purified FRIL at 80 μg/mL of a two-gram gum tablet neutralized 95 percent of HSV-1 and HSV-2. Whereas at 36.07–38.14 μg/mL, it effectively made 95 percent of influenza viruses inactive. These results show that FRIL could prove to be a powerful weapon in our battle against viruses.

An option other than vaccines

Vaccines are undoubtedly the most reliable form of protection against viruses, but they come with two major challenges. First, low-income countries with limited healthcare infrastructure often struggle to produce or procure enough vaccines during outbreaks.

Second, even in well-developed countries, many people find it inconvenient to get vaccinated repeatedly. This leads to missed doses. Additionally, vaccine skepticism among the masses further contributes to low vaccination rates.

An antiviral drug that comes in the form of a bean gum may overcome many of these challenges. For instance, with the right tools, it could be mass-produced in African and Asian countries where the lablab beans are already widely grown. 

Moreover, people may be more willing to use a natural, plant-based gum than receive repeated vaccinations, making it a more accessible and acceptable option for preventing viral infections.

The researchers claim that they “prepared the gum as a clinical-grade drug product to comply with the FDA specifications for drug products and found the gum to be safe.”

However, it is still not ready for human use and has to go through a series of clinical trials before it becomes commercially available. 

The study is published in the journal Molecular Therapy.