Research Article Efficacy of Pleuran (β-Glucan from Pleurotus ostreatus) in the Management of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection Ingrid Urbancikova, 1,2 Dana Hudackova, 2 Juraj Majtan , 3 Zuzana Rennerova , 4,5 Peter Banovcin, 6 and Milos Jesenak 6,7,8 1 Department of Pediatrics, P. J. Safarik University, Faculty of Medicine, Children Faculty Hospital, Trieda SNP 1, 040 11 Kosice, Slovakia 2 Department of Pediatric Infectology, Children Faculty Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Trieda SNP 1, 040 11 Kosice, Slovakia 3 Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska Cesta 21, 845 51 Bratislava, Slovakia 4 Pneumo-Allergo Centre Ltd., Udernicka 1, 851 01 Bratislava, Slovakia 5 Department of Pediatric Pulmonology and Phthisiology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University, National Institute of Children Diseases, Krajinska 91, 825 56 Bratislava, Slovakia 6 Department of Paediatrics, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Kollarova 2, 036 59 Martin, Slovakia 7 Department of Pulmonology and Phthisiology, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Kollarova 2, 036 59 Martin, Slovakia 8 Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergology, Comenius University in Bratislava, Kollarova 2, 036 59 Martin, Slovakia Correspondence should be addressed to Zuzana Rennerova; zuzana.rennerova@yahoo.com and Milos Jesenak; jesenak@gmail.com Received 31 December 2019; Accepted 24 March 2020; Published 13 April 2020 Academic Editor: Letizia Angiolella Copyright © 2020 Ingrid Urbancikova et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. One of the highly prevalent viral pathogens among children and adults causing infection, clinically presenting as herpes labialis, is herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). e long-term administration of acyclovir, a standard regimen for therapy against HSV-1 infections, can cause viral resistance against this drug. erefore, the development of natural drugs with low toxicity that are able to enhance host antiviral defense against HSV infection is needed. β-Glucans represent a type of biologically active molecules possessing antiviral properties. e goal of this study was to investigate the clinical and immunomodulatory effect of β-glucan pleuran (insoluble β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan isolated from Pleurotus ostreatus) based supplements on the duration and intensity of herpes symptoms and on the incidence rate and duration of acute respiratory symptoms and intercurrent diseases in HSV-1 positive patients. Ninety patients were randomised into active and placebo groups. Active treatment with pleuran in systemic application caused a significantly shorter duration of herpes simplex symptoms compared to the placebo group. During the preventive phase (120 days), the duration and severity of respiratory symptoms were lower in the active group compared to the placebo group; however, a significant difference was found only in the case of cough. No significant side effects were observed during both phases of the clinical trial (acute and preventive). Obtained results suggest that the use of pleuran seems to be a promising approach in the treatment of acute HSV-1 with beneficial effect on the respiratory tract symptoms and infections. 1. Introduction β-Glucans are glucose polymers derived from a variety of sources, including yeast, grain, alga, and fungus, and belong to the class of drugs known as biological response modifiers [1]. Nowadays, β-glucans have attracted considerable at- tention due to their anti-infective, antiviral, antitumor, and immunomodulatory activities as well as wound healing properties [2–7]. As for their antiviral effect, β-glucans have shown excellent activity against a broad spectrum of plant, Hindawi Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2020, Article ID 8562309, 8 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8562309