Many studies showed GL have antiviral activity (reviewed in [97] ). A mechanism proposed for explain this propriety is the membrane stabilizing effect, as demonstrated in rat hepatocytes incubated with antibody raised against rat liver cell membranes: rat hepatocytes released AST after incubation with antiliver cell antibody in the presence of complement, and the endogenous phospholipase A2 activity was increased, but glycyrrhizin suppressed phospholipase A2 activity and reduced transaminase level [98] . A more recent study confirms this propriety in HIV and Influenza A virus [99] .