New York U.: NYU study finds licorice may be lifesaver.

(From University Wire)

Byline: Bianca Posterli

The substance responsible for the sweet flavor in licorice may help fight a rare strain of herpes, a group of New York University researchers discovered.

Ornella Flore, associate professor of microbiology and dermatology, and her colleagues presented their findings in the March 1 edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. They showed that the substance glycyrrhizic acid, or GA, also found in other licorice-containing products like gum, cough syrup, herbal suppressants and soft drinks, kills latent cells infected with Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV).

The incurable virus, first discovered in 1994, is associated with Kaposi sarcoma, which is often found in patients with HIV and AIDS, and manifests in tumors in tissues below the skin.

The virus has two different phases: an active phase during which dark purple lesions occur on the extremities and a latent phase during which no symptoms of the virus are evident in an infected person.

GA works by "programmed cell death," meaning it targets and causes infected cells to self-destruct by altering levels of proteins involved in cell deaths. The acid does not affect noninfected cells.