Cardiac glycosides are potent inhibitors of cancer cell growth and possess antiviral activities at nanomolar concentrations. In this study we evaluated the anticytomegalovirus (CMV) activity of digitoxin and several of its analogues. We show that sugar type and sugar length attached to the steroid core structure affects its anticytomegalovirus activity. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies identified the l-sugar containing cardiac glycosides as having improved anti-CMV activity and may lead to better understanding of how these compounds inhibit CMV replication.
Keywords: Cardiac glycosides; cytomegalovirus; digitoxin analogues; virus inhibition.