Literature Review: Monolaurin and Antiviral Studies
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Viral
Infections
Viruses are essentially microorganisms that invade cells within the body, multiply within those cells, and ultimately cause a person to become sick.
Common viral infections include the common cold and flu (Ref #1), as well as other potentially more serious strains including Epstein-Barr, Hepatitis B, smallpox, warts, and yellow fever.
Viral Infections Present A Challenge, Even To Modern Medicine
Science has and the treatment of viral infections have advanced significantly through time. However, challenges are still faced by global healthcare systems when it comes to effectively treating viral infections through a pharmaceutical approach. Antiviral drugs are similar to antibiotics in the elimination of specific pathogenic microorganisms in the human body that is causing a patient to be ill. With antiviral medications, however, separate drugs are made for specific viruses – unlike some antibiotics that offer a broad-spectrum treatment approach.
A publication (Ref #2) in the Journal of Virology & Mycology explains that, even though several drugs have been developed to treat viral infections, many challenges are still being faced. In particular, mutations of viruses found today become resistant to the existing antiviral drugs. This makes them ineffective in treating the infections they were developed to treat. The publication does state that new classes of these drugs are in development to provide a broad-spectrum approach to treating different viruses, but evidence of their effectiveness still needs to be proved.
Is Monolaurin Antiviral? Can It Be Used To Treat Viral Infections?
Some dietary supplements, along with healthy lifestyle changes, may aid in supporting a healthy immune response. Monolaurin, a dietary supplement synthesized from coconut and palm kernel oils, has been the subject of laboratory research exploring the potential antiviral properties of the compound in vitro.
Select studies have demonstrated the potential of monolaurin, often combined with other specific compounds, in addressing certain types of viruses in laboratory settings. One study (Ref #3) reports the combination of monolaurin and tert-butylhydroxyanisole as potentially effective against 14 different viruses that are known to cause illness in the human body. Over 99.9% reduced viral infectivity in this study.
“Monolaurin alone and monolaurin with tert‐butylhydroxyanisole (BHA), methylparaben, or sorbic acid were tested for in vitro virucidal activity against 14 human RNA and DNA enveloped viruses in cell culture. At concentrations of 1% additive in the reaction mixture for 1 h at 23°C, all viruses were reduced in infectivity by >99.9%. Monolaurin with BHA was the most effective virucidal agent in that it removed all measurable infectivity from all of the viruses tested. The compounds acted similarly on all the viruses and reduced infectivity by disintegrating the virus envelope.” (Ref #3)
A study (Ref #4) published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy shared evidence that monolaurin may be an effective compound in inactivating herpes simplex virus, visna virus, as well as the vesicular stomatitis virus in laboratory settings.
“Monoglycerides of these fatty acids were also highly antiviral, in some instances at a concentration 10 times lower than that of the free fatty acids. Antiviral fatty acids were found to affect the viral envelope, causing leakage and at higher concentrations, a complete disintegration of the envelope and the viral particles. They also caused disintegration of the plasma membranes of tissue culture cells resulting in cell lysis and death. The same phenomenon occurred in cell cultures incubated with stored antiviral human milk. The antimicrobial effect of human milk lipids in vitro is therefore most likely caused by disintegration of cellular and viral membranes by fatty acids.” (Ref #4)
These studies are an interesting and intriguing first look into the potential benefits of monolaurin in lab settings. However, further research is required to determine monolaurin’s impact, if any, in human subjects. An extended review of monolaurin and associated research is available in the Essential Monolaurin Guide.
Monolaurin, like all supplements, should be taken under the supervision of a healthcare professional.
References
“Viral Infections” MedilinePlus. Last accessed Feb 2020 at https://medlineplus.gov/viralinfections.html
https://www.omicsonline.org/challenges-and-opportunities-in-the-development-of-therapeutics-for-viral-infectious-diseases-in-the-21st-century-2161-0517.1000e101.php?aid=4273
HIERHOLZER, J.C. and KABARA, J.J. (1982), “IN VITRO EFFECTS OF MONOLAURIN COMPOUNDS ON ENVELOPED RNA AND DNA VIRUSES” 1. Journal of Food Safety, 4: 1-12. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-4565.1982.tb00429.x
Thormar H, Isaacs CE, Brown HR, Barshatzky MR, Pessolano T. "Inactivation of enveloped viruses and killing of cells by fatty acids and monoglycerides." Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1987 Jan;31(1):27-31.