Docosanol is a waxy long chained alcohol that can inhibit the fusion and replication of some viruses, including respiratory syncitial virus. It is most studied as a topical treatment for herpes simplex infection (cold sores and genital herpes). In the United States, it is found in the FDA approved medicine Abreva, which is sold over the counter. PMID:15571473 (cache)

Docosanol has been shown to inhibit a variety of enveloped viruses (those with a lipid or fat covering) while it does not inhibit polio virus, which is a non-enveloped virus. National Academy of Science Paper (cache). As influenza viruses do have a lipid envelope, this paper raises the possibility that docosanol -might- reduce the infectivity of H5N1 and other influenza viruses, but that question has not been investigated.

Docosonal is found naturally in a variety of foods, especially in the surface layers of leaves, fruits and vegetables. It is also a component of some brands of policosanol. Policosanol is the name for a variety of natural extracts derrived from sugar cane stems, rice bran, or other plant waxes. Policosanol has been widely studied for its cholesterol lowering properties. Policosanol also contains octacosanol, triacontanol, dotriacotanol, tetracosanol, hexacosanol, tetratriacontanol, and hexatriacontanol. Rice bran is a particularly rich source of docosanol.

Although the solubility of docosanol and related compounds in water is low, they are absorbed into the body and exert pharmacological effects, including the supression of cholesterol production. While topical application of very concentrated docosanol (10%) has been shown to have a rapid effect on herpes virus replication, the anti-inflammatory and cholesterol lowering effects occur over a longer period of time.

One synonym for docosanol is behenyl alcohol.


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