Alisporivir Has Limited Antiviral Effects Against Ebola Virus Strains Makona and Mayinga

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 214; no. suppl 3; pp. S355 - S359
• Main Authors: Chiramel, Abhilash I., Banadyga, Logan, Dougherty, Jonathan D., Falzarano, Darryl, Martellaro, Cynthia, Brees, Dominique, Taylor, R. Travis, Ebihara, Hideki, Best, Sonja M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 15.10.2016
• Subjects: Africa, Western - epidemiology; Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use; Cyclosporine - therapeutic use; Disease Outbreaks; Ebola Outbreak in West Africa; Ebolavirus - drug effects; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola - drug therapy; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola - virology; Humans; MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES; Virus Replication; Ebola virus; antivirals; alisporivir; cyclophilin A; flavivirus
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiw241

Antiviral therapeutics with existing clinical safely profiles would be highly desirable in an outbreak situation, such as the 2013-2016 emergence of Ebola virus (EBOV) in West Africa. Although, the World Health Organization declared the end of the outbreak early 2016, sporadic cases of EBOV infection have since been reported. Alisporivir is the most clinically advanced broad-spectrum antiviral that functions by targeting a host protein, cyclophilin A (CypA). A modest antiviral effect of alisporivir against contemporary (Makona) but not historical (Mayinga) EBOV strains was observed in tissue culture. However, this effect was not comparable to observations for an alisporivir-susceptible virus, the flavivirus tick-borne encephalitis virus. Thus, EBOV does not depend on (CypA) for replication, in contrast to many other viruses pathogenic to humans.