The Antiviral Activity of Caprylic Monoglyceride against Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus In Vitro and In Vivo

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 27; no. 21; p. 7263
• Main Authors: Yang, Luyu, Wen, Jianhua, Zhang, Yang, Liu, Zheyan, Luo, Zhipeng, Xu, Lei, Lai, Siyuan, Tang, Huaqiao, Sun, Xiangang, Hu, Youjun, Zhu, Ling, Xu, Zhiwen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26.10.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Animal diseases; Animals; Antimicrobial agents; antiviral; Antiviral activity; Antiviral agents; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Assaying; Autopsies; Biocompatibility; caprylic monoglyceride; Cytokines; Cytotoxicity; Drug development; Drugs; Economic impact; Edema; Evaluation; Fatty acids; Hogs; IL-1β; Immune system; Impact analysis; Infections; Inflammation; Interleukin 10; Interleukin 6; Interleukin 8; Lungs; Lymphatic system; medium-chain fatty acids; Monoglycerides; Monoglycerides - pharmacology; Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome; Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome - drug therapy; Porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus; Pork industry; PRRSV; Saturated fatty acids; Swine; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Vaccines; Viral infections; Viruses; weaned piglets; γ-Interferon; China; caprylic monoglyceride; medium-chain fatty acids; PRRSV; weaned piglets; antiviral
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules27217263

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a disease with a major economic impact in the global pig industry, and this study aims to identify potential anti-PRRSV drugs. We examined the cytotoxicity of four medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) (caprylic, caprylic monoglyceride, decanoic monoglyceride, and monolaurin) and their inhibition rate against PRRSV. Then the MCFAs with the best anti-PRRSV effect in in vitro assays were selected for subsequent in vivo experiments. Potential anti-PRRSV drugs were evaluated by viral load assay, pathological assay, and cytokine level determination. The results showed that caprylic monoglyceride (CMG) was the least toxic to cells of the four MCFAs, while it had the highest PRRSV inhibition rate. Then the animals were divided into a low-CMG group, a medium-CMG group, and a high-CMG group to conduct the in vivo evaluation. The results indicated that piglets treated with higher concentrations of caprylic monoglyceride were associated with lower mortality and lower viral load after PRRSV infection (p < 0.05). The pulmonary pathology of the piglets also improved after CMG treatment. The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β, IFN-γ, TNF-α) were significantly downregulated, and the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) were significantly upregulated in the CMG-treated piglets compared to the positive control group (p < 0.05). Taken together, the present study revealed for the first time that caprylic monoglyceride has strong antiviral activity against PRRSV in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that caprylic monoglyceride could potentially be used as a drug to treat PRRS infection.