Tangeretin from Citrus reticulate Inhibits Respiratory Syncytial Virus Replication and Associated Inflammation in Vivo

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 63; no. 43; pp. 9520 - 9527
• Main Authors: Xu, Jiao-Jiao, Liu, Zhong, Tang, Wei, Wang, Guo-Cai, Chung, Hau Yin, Liu, Qiu-Ying, Zhuang, Ling, Li, Man-Mei, Li, Yao-Lan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 04.11.2015
• Subjects: Animals; Antiviral Agents - administration & dosage; Citrus - chemistry; Disease Models, Animal; Flavones - administration & dosage; Humans; Lung - immunology; Lung - virology; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; NF-kappa B - immunology; Plant Extracts - administration & dosage; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections - drug therapy; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections - immunology; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections - virology; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses - drug effects; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses - physiology; Virus Replication - drug effects; NF-κB; in vivo antiviral activity; RSV-induced inflammation; respiratory syncytial virus replication; tangeretin
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5b03482

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common pathogen that causes pneumonia and bronchiolitis in infants and young children. Our previous study showed that tangeretin from Citrus reticulate possessed potent in vitro anti-RSV effects comparable to that of ribavirin. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the in vivo anti-RSV activity of tangeretin in 3-week-old male BALB/c mice. A plaque reduction assay and fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) showed that tangeretin inhibited RSV replication in the lung of mice. Moreover, a luminex assay indicated tangeretin relieved RSV-induced lung inflammation by attenuating interleukin (IL)-1β secretion. Possible anti-inflammatory mechanisms of tangeretin were preliminarily explored using a RSV-infected macrophage model. A FQ-PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and luciferase assay revealed that tangeretin inhibited RSV-induced inflammation by suppressing nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation. This study demonstrates that tangeretin inhibited RSV replication and RSV-induced lung inflammation in vivo and may be useful in preventing and treating RSV infections and inflammation.