Antiviral activity of Arbidol against Coxsackie virus B5 in vitro and in vivo

摘要

We investigated the antiviral activity of Arbidol, an antiviral chemical compound, against Coxsackie virus B5 (CVB ) in vitro and in vivo. Arbidol not only prevented the cytopathic effect (CPE) of CVB , as demonstrated in an MTT colorimetric assay, when added during or after viral infection, with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC ) from 2.66 to 6.62 μg/ml, but it also decreased the CVB -RNA level in infected host cells, as shown in semi-quantitative RT-PCR. BALB/c mice were used as an animal model to test the Arbidol activity in vivo. Orally administered Arbidol at 50 mg/kg body weight/day (once a day) significantly reduced mean virus yields in the lungs and heart as well as mortality after infection for 6 days. Our results demonstrate that in vitro and in vivo infection with CVB can be effectively treated by Arbidol.