| Flavonoids and related polyphenols, in addition to their cardioprotective, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and anti-allergic activities, also possess promising anti-HIV effects. Recent studies documented that the ß-chemokine receptors, CCR2b, CCR3 and CCR5, and the alpha-chemokine receptors, CXCR1, CXCR2 and CXCR4 serve as entry coreceptors for HIV-1. Although flavonoids and polyphenolic compounds elicit anti-HIV effects such as inhibition of HIV-1 expression and virus replication, the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects remain to be clearly elucidated. We hypothesize that flavonoids exert their anti-HIV effects, possibly by interfering at the HIV co-receptor level. We investigated the effect of flavonoid constituents of a... |
