Institute of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Viruses. 2022 Jul 27;14(8):1641. doi: 10.3390/v14081641.
Usutu virus (USUV) is an emerging mosquito-borne arbovirus within the genus Flavivirus, family . Similar to the closely related West Nile virus (WNV), USUV infections are capable of causing mass mortality in wild and captive birds, especially blackbirds. In the last few years, a massive spread of USUV was present in the avian population of Germany and other European countries. To date, no specific antiviral therapies are available. Nine different approved drugs were tested for their antiviral effects on the replication of USUV in vitro in a screening assay. Ivermectin was identified as a potent inhibitor of USUV replication in three cell types from different species, such as simian Vero CCL-81, human A549 and avian TME R. A 2- to 7-log10 reduction of the viral titer in the supernatant was detected at a non-cytotoxic concentration of 5 µM ivermectin dependent on the applied cell line. IC values of ivermectin against USUV lineage Africa 3 was found to be 0.55 µM in Vero CCL-81, 1.94 µM in A549 and 1.38 µM in TME-R cells. The antiviral efficacy was comparable between the USUV lineages Africa 2, Africa 3 and Europe 3. These findings show that ivermectin may be a candidate for further experimental and clinical studies addressing the treatment of USUV disease, especially in captive birds.
乌苏图病毒（USUV）是黄病毒属、黄病毒科的一种新兴蚊媒传播的虫媒病毒。与密切相关的西尼罗河病毒（WNV）类似，USUV 感染能够导致野生和圈养鸟类大量死亡，尤其是黑鸟。在过去的几年中，德国和其他欧洲国家的鸟类种群中出现了大量的 USUV 传播。迄今为止，尚无特定的抗病毒疗法。在筛选试验中，对 9 种不同的已批准药物进行了测试，以评估它们对 USUV 在体外复制的抗病毒作用。伊维菌素被确定为三种不同物种的细胞类型（包括猴肾vero CCL-81 细胞、人 A549 细胞和禽 TME R 细胞）中抑制 USUV 复制的有效抑制剂。在非细胞毒性浓度 5µM 的伊维菌素作用下，检测到上清液中病毒滴度降低了 2 到 7 个对数级，这取决于所应用的细胞系。在 Vero CCL-81 细胞中，伊维菌素对 USUV 谱系非洲 3 的 IC 值为 0.55µM，在 A549 细胞中为 1.94µM，在 TME-R 细胞中为 1.38µM。USUV 谱系非洲 2、非洲 3 和欧洲 3 之间的抗病毒功效相当。这些发现表明，伊维菌素可能是进一步实验和临床研究的候选药物，用于治疗 USUV 疾病，特别是在圈养鸟类中。
