Antiviral activity of lapachol and synthetic hydroxynaphthoquinone derivatives against Mayaro virus.

The Mayaro virus (MAYV) is an arbovirus belonging to the Togaviridae family, genus Alphavirus. MAYV causes several sporadic outbreaks, affecting regions of the Americas. There are no specific antivirals for treating the disease. Therefore, studies are increasingly needed to discover effective antivirals against these neglected viruses. Thus, our study investigates the antiviral potential in vitro of a natural hydroxynaphthoquinone (QHM0001 - lapachol) and its synthetic derivatives (QHM0011, 0020 and 0110) against CMV-MAYV-nanoluc. We observed that the compounds QHM0001, 0011, 0020 and 0110 interfered with the post-entry stages (2 h.p.i.) of the CMV-MAYV-nanoluc, suggesting an effect on the viral genome replication stage. QHM0001, 0011 and 0020 showed high percentages of inhibition in late stages (4, 6 and 8 h.p.i.) of CMV-MAYV-nanoluc replication cycle. Thus, our study highlights the potential of the tested hydroxynaphthoquinones as promising candidates for new broad-spectrum antivirals.