Antiviral efficacy of favipiravir against canine distemper virus infection in vitro

  • BMC Vet Res. 2019 Sep 2;15(1):316. doi: 10.1186/s12917-019-2057-8.
Xianghong Xue  1  2 ,  Yelei Zhu  1  3 ,  Lina Yan  1 ,  Gary Wong  4  5 ,  Peilu Sun  6 ,  Xuexing Zheng  7 ,  Xianzhu Xia  8
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China.
  • 2. Division of Infectious Diseases of Special Animal, Institute of Special Animal and Plant Sciences, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, 130112, China.
  • 3. Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, 310051, China.
  • 4. Institute Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China.
  • 5. Département de microbiologie-infectiologie et d'immunologie, Université Laval, QC, Québec, G1V 4G2, Canada.
  • 6. Institute of Materia Medical, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, 250062, China.
  • 7. Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China. [email protected].
  • 8. Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun, 130122, China.
PMID: 31477101 DOI: 10.1186/s12917-019-2057-8
Abstract

Background: Canine distemper (CD) is an acute infectious disease with high morbidity rates caused by a highly contagious pathogen (Canine Morbillivirus, also known as canine distemper virus, CDV). CDV can infect a broad range of carnivores resulting in complex clinical signs. Currently, there is no effective method to treat for CDV infections. Favipiravir (T-705), a pyrazine derivative, was shown to be an effective Antiviral drug against RNA viruses, acting on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). However, whether the T-705 has Antiviral effects following CDV Infection is unclear. Here, we investigated the Antiviral effect of T-705 against CDV-3 and CDV-11 strains in Vero and DH82 cell lines.

Results: Our data demonstrated that T-705 significantly inhibited the replication of CDV-3 and CDV-11 in both Vero and DH82 cells at different concentrations, ranging from 2.441 μg/ml to 1250 μg/ml. Additionally, T-705 exhibited efficacious Antiviral effects when administered at different time points after virus Infection. Cytotoxicity tests showed a slight decline in viability in Vero cells after T-705 treatment, and no apparent cytotoxicity was detected in T-705 treated DH82 cells. Comparison of anti-CDV polyclonal serum only inhibition of CDV in supernatant, T-705 directly inhibited viral replication in cells, and indirectly reduced the amount of virions in supernatant. The combination application of T-705 and anti-CDV polyclonal serum exhibited a rapid and robust inhibition against virions in supernatant and virus replication in cells.

Conclusions: Our data strongly indicated that T-705 effectively inhibited viral replication following CDV Infection in vitro, and could be a potential candidate for treatment for CD.

Keywords
Antivirals; Canine distemper; Canine distemper virus; Favipiravir.
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