Hernández Benito, Estefanía PatriciaBermejo Benito, PaulinaBeltrán Vicente, ManuelaAlcami Pertejo, JoséPrieto, AliciaGuerra Guirao, José AntonioBedoya Del Olmo, Luis Miguel2025-10-142025-10-142025-03-03Hernández E, Bermejo P, Abad MJ, Beltrán M, Alcamí J, Prieto A, Guerra JA, Bedoya LM. Characterization of Heterogeneous Polysaccharides from the Aerial Parts of Clinopodium bolivianum (Benth.) with Neutralizing Activity Against HIV-1 Infection. Polysaccharides 2025;6:18. https://doi.org/10.3390/polysaccharides6010018.10.3390/polysaccharides6010018https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/124891Medicinal plants are widely used in Bolivian folk medicine for the treatment of infectious diseases. We have selected one, Clinopodium bolivianum (Benth.) Kuntze, known as “Khoa”, to investigate its potential anti-HIV activity since, traditionally, it has been used to treat other viral infectious diseases. We have carried out an antiviral bioassay-guided fractionation of different extracts of the aerial parts of C. bolivianum. An antiviral crude polysaccharide was obtained, (SBAS), which is rich in glucose, galactose, mannose, arabinose, xylose, and rhamnose and only has traces of galacturonic acid. SBAS exhibited antiviral activity with a mechanism of action unrelated to the mannose–lectin DC-SIGN receptors but with a strong viral neutralization activity. In summary, a purified polysaccharide from C. bolivianum has been identified as the main compound responsible for its antiviral activity. SBAs proved to be a neutralizing agent with high antiviral capacity in vitro, so they could be part of new microbicide formulations to prevent HIV transmission.engAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.3390/polysaccharides6010018open access615.322615.011ClinopodiumSatureja; antiviralHIVPolysaccharidesMicrobicidesBotánica (Farmacia)Farmacología (Farmacia)3209.04 Medicamentos Naturales