Bridging the gap towards a novel antiviral therapeutic against dengue virus with major flavonoids from Scutellaria baicalensis.

Dengue fever is an arthropod-borne viral disease caused by any of the four dengue virus serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 or DENV-4), which are primarily transmitted to humans by Aedes spp. mosquitoes. In the absence of an effective anti-DENV drug, various sources of natural or synthetic compounds have been investigated for their therapeutic potentials against DENV. We have previously demonstrated that baicalin and baicalein, two major constituents of Scutellaria baicalensis extracts, exhibit promising antiviral effects against DENV replication. Following up on these findings, our present study aims to validate both flavonoids' clinical potential as anti-DENV agents, both in vitro and in vivo, as well as their capacity in modulating DENV-associated inflammatory pathogenesis and susceptibility towards viral resistance mutations. Findings presented in this short communication laid a strong foundation for advancing Scutellaria baicalensis extract into our recently initiated phase 1 clinical trial.