Anti-herpes virus strategies of nanomaterials: research progress on direct inhibition mechanisms and targeted delivery systems.

Herpesvirus infections have become a major public health problem due to their high prevalence worldwide and potential risk of recurrence. Currently, widely used nucleoside analogs, such as acyclovir, can exert therapeutic effects by inhibiting viral DNA polymerase, but their clinical application still faces many challenges, including increasing drug resistance, pharmacokinetic deficiencies, and the risk of toxicities associated with long-term drug use. In recent years, the rapid development of nanotechnology has revolutionised antiviral therapy, and its precision design features at the molecular level have enabled multi-targeted interventions against the viral life cycle. This review systematically describes the classification of nanomaterials with anti-herpesviral activity, their mechanisms of action, and their delivery systems, which provides an important theoretical basis and research direction for the development of a new generation of anti-herpesviral drugs.