Licorice, Glycyrrhizic acid and Herpes

Licorice or Glycyrrhizic acid and herpes relationship has been studied since 1979. But first of all, a legitimate question could be: what on earth is glycyrrhizic acid? Glycyrrhizic acid is a licorice or liquorice extract. The next question should probably be: Is glycyrrhizic acid a herpes treatment? Well, probably..

Actually, Glycyrrhizic acid and herpes go way back. A 1979 study had already concluded that "glycyrrhizic acid inactivated herpes simplex virus particles irreversibly". The same research staff published another paper about glycyrrhizic acid and herpes in 1980 stating the same thing but only for herpes simplex -1 virus. Here's a quote "Glycyrrhizic acid inhibits the growth of several DNA and RNA viruses in cell cultures and inactivates Herpes simplex 1 virus irreversibly."

More positive studies about glycyrrhizic acid and herpes zoster and herpes virus 1 have followed since then. A 1987 clinical study used glycyrrhizin gel containing 0.2% idoxuridine applied locally to treat oral herpes. Here are their conclusions "It reduced the healing time and produced an almost instantaneous relief from pain. The higher efficacy of the new preparation may be ascribed to the reported anti-inflammatory and antiviral activities of glycyrrhizin together with an enhanced permeation of the IDU through the skin."

More recently, in 2005, a team at New York University found that the compound - glycyrrhizic acid could stop the Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpes virus triggering a form of cancer called Kaposi sarcoma. The infection causes tumors to develop in tissues below the skin, and in internal organs.

According to this research glycyrrhizic acid can attack Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpes virus cells which are in a latent state. Herpes has the ability to hide himself from our immune system, remain latent for a while and when triggered cause an infection. Glycyrrhizic acid could be the first compound to "attack Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpes virus in its sleep" by destroying our bodies infected nerve cells and consequently prevent cancer.

Herpes still has some form of activity in his latent state that can disrupt normal cells and cause cancer in the long-run. Kaposi sarcoma is a rare disease but it is a potential complication of herpes. So the discovery of glycyrrhizic acid ability to control a herpes latent infection is extremely valuable.

You can find the complete herpes research article here

Glycyrrhizic acid and herpes conclusion: Glycyrrhizic acid seems to have a lot of potential for the treatment of latent active herpes infections. It is unclear whether it is ineffective on herpes simplex 2 or genital herpes. But studies clearly suggest that Glycyrrhizic acid has an inhibitory effect in vitro, in vivo (mostly animal studies) and topically of the herpes simplex 1 virus. No dosage was indicated however.

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