Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team May 18, 2026 1 hour, 3 minutes ago
Medical News: A team of Chinese scientists has uncovered a promising new natural compound that could help fight deadly hantavirus infections, offering hope for a disease that still lacks approved treatments. The discovery came from a traditional medicinal plant known as Callistemon rigidus, whose leaves contain unique chemical compounds capable of stopping the virus from replicating inside cells.
Scientists discover a powerful plant-derived compound that may stop deadly hantaviruses from replicating
inside human cells
Researchers from the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming Institute of Botany, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Wuhan University in China identified four powerful plant-derived compounds, including two newly discovered molecules named callistemontrimer A and callistemontrimer B.
A Dangerous Virus with Few Treatment Options
Hantaviruses are rodent-borne viruses that can cause severe illnesses in humans, including hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). These infections can damage the kidneys, lungs, and blood vessels, and in many cases can become fatal.
China alone recorded more than 209,000 HFRS cases and over 1,800 deaths between 2004 and 2019. Despite the seriousness of these infections, there are still no U.S. FDA-approved antiviral drugs or vaccines specifically designed to treat hantavirus diseases.
Current treatment mainly focuses on supportive hospital care, while antiviral drugs like ribavirin have shown only limited success.
Ancient Medicinal Plant Reveals New Potential
The plant investigated in the study, Callistemon rigidus, has traditionally been used in Chinese medicine for treating coughs, asthma, bronchitis, eczema, and pain-related conditions. Scientists suspected it might contain biologically active molecules with antiviral effects.
Using advanced chemical extraction and laboratory analysis, the researchers isolated four phloroglucinol oligomers from the leaves of the plant. Two of these compounds had never been identified before.
The most exciting discovery was callistemontrimer A, which showed particularly strong activity against Hantaan virus, one of the most dangerous hantaviruses known to infect humans.
Compound Stops the Virus from Replicating
Laboratory testing revealed that all four plant compounds demonstrated stronger anti-hantavirus activity than ribavirin, the commonly studied antiviral drug used as a comparison benchmark.
Among them, callistemontrimer A stood out because it was highly effective while also showing relatively lower toxicity to healthy cells. The researchers found that the compound specifically interfered with viral replication, meaning it prevented the virus from making copies of itself inside infected cells.
This
Medical News report highlights that the compound did not merely damage the virus d
irectly. Instead, it blocked a crucial stage in the viral life cycle after the virus had already entered cells.
The scientists used special fluorescence imaging techniques and genetic testing to confirm that viral activity sharply declined after treatment with callistemontrimer A. In several experiments, the compound outperformed ribavirin at equivalent concentrations.
How the Compound Targets the Virus
Further computer modeling revealed how the compound may work. The researchers found that callistemontrimer A likely binds to the hantavirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, also known as RdRp.
This enzyme is essential for the virus because it allows the pathogen to copy its genetic material and continue spreading through the body. Without efficient RdRp activity, the virus struggles to reproduce.
Molecular docking studies showed that the plant compound formed several strong hydrogen bonds with important amino acids inside the viral enzyme’s active site. This interaction may effectively disable the virus’s replication machinery.
Hope for Future Antiviral Drug Development
Scientists say the findings are especially important because natural compounds often serve as starting points for future pharmaceutical drugs. The newly discovered molecules may eventually be chemically optimized to create safer and more powerful antiviral medications.
The researchers also noted that modifying the molecular structure of these compounds could potentially improve their potency even further. Future studies are expected to include animal testing and more detailed investigations into how the compounds behave inside living organisms.
Conclusion
The discovery of callistemontrimer A represents an important breakthrough in hantavirus research at a time when effective treatments remain extremely limited. The study not only identified entirely new antiviral compounds from a medicinal plant but also demonstrated that these substances can outperform existing experimental drugs in laboratory settings. While much more research is needed before any human treatment becomes available, the findings provide strong evidence that nature-derived compounds may become valuable weapons against deadly hantavirus infections in the future. The work also opens the door to developing an entirely new class of antiviral medicines targeting viral replication enzymes.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Viruses.
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/17/7/916
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