Emerging and re-emerging viruses have been a challenge in public health in recent decades.Host-targeted antivirals (HTA) directed at cellular molecules or pathways involved in virus Pail Openers multiplication represent an interesting strategy to combat viruses presently lacking effective chemotherapy.HTA could provide a wide range of agents with inhibitory activity against current and future viruses that share similar host requirements and reduce the possible selection of antiviral-resistant variants.Nucleotide metabolism is one of the more exploited host metabolic pathways as a potential antiviral target for several human viruses.
This review focuses on the antiviral properties of the inhibitors of pyrimidine and purine nucleotide biosynthesis, with an emphasis on the rate-limiting enzymes dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) and inosine MSM CREAM monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) for which there are old and new drugs active against a broad spectrum of pathogenic viruses.