Euglena Co., Ltd., Tokyo 108-0014, Japan.
Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition, School of Human Environmental Sciences, Mukogawa Women's University, Nishinomiya 663-8558, Japan.
Nutrients. 2021 Oct 30;13(11):3911. doi: 10.3390/nu13113911.
It is difficult to match annual vaccines against the exact influenza strain that is spreading in any given flu season. Owing to the emergence of drug-resistant viral strains, new approaches for treating influenza are needed. (hereinafter Euglena), microalga, used as functional foods and supplements, have been shown to alleviate symptoms of influenza virus infection in mice. However, the mechanism underlying the inhibitory action of microalgae against the influenza virus is unknown. Here, we aimed to study the antiviral activity of Euglena extract against the influenza virus and the underlying action mechanism using Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. Euglena extract strongly inhibited infection by all influenza virus strains examined, including those resistant to the anti-influenza drugs oseltamivir and amantadine. A time-of-addition assay revealed that Euglena extract did not affect the cycle of virus replication, and cell pretreatment or prolonged treatment of infected cells reduced the virus titer. Thus, Euglena extract may activate the host cell defense mechanisms, rather than directly acting on the influenza virus. Moreover, various minerals, mainly zinc, in Euglena extract were found to be involved in the antiviral activity of the extract. In conclusion, Euglena extract could be a potent agent for preventing and treating influenza.
很难将每年的疫苗与在特定流感季节传播的确切流感毒株相匹配。由于耐药病毒株的出现，需要新的方法来治疗流感。（以下简称眼虫），微藻，用作功能性食品和补品，已被证明可以减轻流感病毒感染小鼠的症状。然而，微藻对流感病毒的抑制作用的机制尚不清楚。在这里，我们旨在使用 Madin-Darby 犬肾 (MDCK) 细胞研究 Euglena 提取物对流感病毒的抗病毒活性及其潜在作用机制。Euglena 提取物强烈抑制了所有测试的流感病毒株的感染，包括对抗流感药物奥司他韦和金刚烷胺耐药的病毒株。添加时间测定表明，Euglena 提取物不影响病毒复制周期，细胞预处理或延长感染细胞的处理时间可降低病毒滴度。因此，Euglena 提取物可能激活宿主细胞防御机制，而不是直接作用于流感病毒。此外，Euglena 提取物中的各种矿物质，主要是锌，被发现参与了提取物的抗病毒活性。总之，Euglena 提取物可能是预防和治疗流感的有效药物。
