Inhibition of HIV replication by amino‐sugar derivatives

Abstract
The plant alkaloids castanospermine, dihydroxymethyldihydroxypyrrolidine and deoxynojirimycin have recently been shown to have potential anti‐HIV activity [(1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84, 8120–8124; (1987) Nature 330, 74–77; (1987) Lancet i, 1025–1026]. They are thought to act by inhibiting α‐glucosidase I, an enzyme involved in the processing of N‐linked oligosaccharides on glycoproteins. We report here the relative efficacy of a spectrum of amino‐sugar derivatives as inhibition of HIV cytopathicity. Several α‐glucosidase inhibitors and α‐fucosidase inhibitors were found to be active at concentrations which were non‐cytotoxic.