Department of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences, Kresge Eye Institute, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
Center for Vision and Eye Banking Research, Eversight, Cleveland, OH 44103, USA.
Biomolecules. 2021 May 18;11(5):753. doi: 10.3390/biom11050753.
Several RNA viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, can infect or use the eye as an entry portal to cause ocular or systemic diseases. Povidone-Iodine (PVP-I) is routinely used during ocular surgeries and eye banking as a cost-effective disinfectant due to its broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, including against viruses. However, whether PVP-I can exert antiviral activities in virus-infected cells remains elusive. In this study, using Zika (ZIKV) and Chikungunya (CHIKV) virus infection of human corneal and retinal pigment epithelial cells, we report antiviral mechanisms of PVP-I. Our data showed that PVP-I, even at the lowest concentration (0.01%), drastically reduced viral replication in corneal and retinal cells without causing cellular toxicity. Antiviral effects of PVP-I against ZIKV and CHIKV were mediated by direct viral inactivation, thus attenuating the ability of the virus to infect host cells. Moreover, one-minute PVP-I exposure of infected ocular cells drastically reduced viral replication and the production of infectious progeny virions. Furthermore, viral-induced (CHIKV) expression of inflammatory genes (, , , and ) were markedly reduced in PVP-I treated corneal epithelial cells. Together, our results demonstrate potent antiviral effects of PVP-I against ZIKV and CHIKV infection of ocular cells. Thus, a low dose of PVP-I can be used during tissue harvesting for corneal transplants to prevent potential transmission of RNA viruses via infected cells.
几种 RNA 病毒，包括 SARS-CoV-2，可以感染或利用眼睛作为进入门户，导致眼部或全身疾病。聚维酮碘（PVP-I）由于其广谱的抗菌活性，包括对病毒的活性，在眼科手术和眼库中常规用作一种具有成本效益的消毒剂。然而，PVP-I 是否能在感染病毒的细胞中发挥抗病毒活性仍不清楚。在这项研究中，我们使用 Zika（ZIKV）和 Chikungunya（CHIKV）病毒感染人角膜和视网膜色素上皮细胞，报告了 PVP-I 的抗病毒机制。我们的数据表明，PVP-I 即使在最低浓度（0.01%）下，也能极大地降低角膜和视网膜细胞中的病毒复制，而不会引起细胞毒性。PVP-I 对 ZIKV 和 CHIKV 的抗病毒作用是通过直接病毒失活介导的，从而削弱了病毒感染宿主细胞的能力。此外，感染眼部细胞的 PVP-I 暴露一分钟即可极大地降低病毒复制和传染性子代病毒颗粒的产生。此外，PVP-I 处理的角膜上皮细胞中，病毒诱导的（CHIKV）炎症基因（、、、和）的表达明显减少。总之，我们的结果表明 PVP-I 对 ZIKV 和 CHIKV 感染眼部细胞具有强大的抗病毒作用。因此，在进行角膜移植组织采集时，可以使用低剂量的 PVP-I 来防止 RNA 病毒通过感染细胞进行潜在传播。
