Small molecules against viruses causing hemorrhagic fevers in Russia

This review is devoted to small molecules (compounds with molecular weights of up to 800–900 Da) that show activity against viruses causing hemorrhagic fevers that occur in Russia. The review presents compounds of various chemical classes that have shown antiviral effect against the causative agents of three acute infectious diseases, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, or alleviate symptoms of these diseases. Despite the severity and high prevalence of hemorrhagic fevers, it should be noted that there are no effective medications for the prevention and treatment of hemorrhagic fevers in Russia and that the search for new antiviral agents is highly relevant. The synthetic nucleoside ribavirin is commonly used for the treatment, but it is not sufficiently effective. The structures and activity parameters (half maximal inhibitory concentration) of the indicated compounds are given and putative mechanisms of their action are discussed. The review summarizes the data published over the whole period of studies of these diseases.The bibliography includes 160 references.