Antiviral activity of brequinar against foot-and-mouth disease virus infection in vitro and in vivo

Highlights

• Brequinar shows antiviral activity against FMDV in vitro, including two different serotypes of FMDV.

• The antiviral effect of brequinar occurred in the early phases of FMDV replication.

• The antiviral effect of brequinar could be attenuated by uridine supplementation

• In vivo activity of brequinar was confirmed in a mouse model of infection.

Abstract

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most highly contagious animal disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals. However, the FMD vaccine does not provide effective protection until adaptive immune protection elicited by the vaccination occurs. Therefore, an alternative application of antiviral agents for inhibition of the FMD virus (FMDV) is needed. Here, we demonstrated that brequinar could exhibit antiviral activity in swine kidney cells (IBRS-2 cells) infected with two different FMDV serotypes. Subsequently, in vivo activity of brequinar was confirmed in a mouse model of infection. Specifically, brequinar at a concentration of 50 μg, provided 25% protection for 5 days following FMDV challenge. These results suggested that brequinar could be used as effective antiviral agent against FMD.