Antiviral activity of arbidol, a broad-spectrum drug for use against respiratory viruses, varies according to test conditions
✍ Scribed by Megan J. Brooks; Elena I. Burtseva; Philip J. Ellery; Glenn A. Marsh; Andrew M. Lew; Anatoly N. Slepushkin; Suzanne M. Crowe; Gregory A. Tannock
- Book ID
- 102380220
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 325 KB
- Volume
- 84
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0146-6615
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
The therapeutic activity of arbidol was investigated against representatives of seven different virus families. Its 50% median effective concentration (EC~50~) was 0.22–11.8 µg/ml (0.41–22 nM). Therapeutic indices of 91 were obtained for type 1 poliovirus and 1.9–8.5 for influenza A and B, human paramyxo‐3, avian infectious bronchitis‐, and Marek's disease viruses. Arbidol was more inhibitory for influenza A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2) virus than rimantadine or amantadine (EC~50~ 10 vs. >15 and >31.6 µg/ml); greater inhibition occurred when end‐points were expressed as TCID~50~s. For respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a reduction in plaque size but not number was observed. However, when the drug was added to infected cultures (≥5 µg/ml), a 3‐log reduction in titer occurred. Arbidol did not inhibit directly influenza A/Aichi/2/68 hemagglutinin (HA) or neuraminidase (NA) activity, but inhibition of fusion between the viral envelope and chicken red blood cells occurred when added at 0.1 µg/ml prior to infection. Arbidol induced changes to viral mRNA synthesis of the PB2, PA, NP, NA, and NS genes in MDCK cultures infected with influenza A/PR/8/34. There was no indirect evidence of enhancement of interferon‐α by arbidol following infection with A/Aichi/2/68. Arbidol neither reduced lung viral titers nor caused a significant reduction of lung consolidation in BALB/c mice after administration by the oral and intraperitoneal (i.p.) routes and intranasal challenge with influenza A/Aichi/2/68. A small reduction in lung consolidation, but not viral titer, occurred after i.p. administration and subsequent challenge with RSV. The results indicate the potential of arbidol as a broad‐spectrum respiratory antiviral drug. J. Med. Virol. 84:170–181, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.