RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Chloroquine inhibits Zika Virus infection in different cellular models
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 051268
DO 10.1101/051268
A1 Rodrigo Delvecchio
A1 Luiza M Higa
A1 Paula Pezzuto
A1 Ana Luiza Valadão
A1 Patrícia P Garcez
A1 Fábio L Monteiro
A1 Erick C. Loiola
A1 Stevens Rehen
A1 Loraine Campanati
A1 Renato Santana de Aguiar
A1 Amilcar Tanuri
YR 2016
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/05/02/051268.abstract
AB Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in utero might lead to microcephaly and other congenital defects. In adults, cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome and meningoencephalitis associated with ZIKV infection have been reported, and no specific therapy is available so far. There is urgency for the discovery of antiviral agents capable of inhibiting viral replication and its deleterious effects. Chloroquine is widely administered as an antimalarial drug, anti-inflammatory agent, and it also shows antiviral activity against several viruses. Here we show that chloroquine exhibits antiviral activity against ZIKV in VERO, human brain microvascular endothelial, and neural stem cells. We demonstrated in vitro that chloroquine reduces the number of ZIKV-infected cells, virus production and cell death promoted by ZIKV infection without cytotoxic effects. Our results suggest that chloroquine is a promising candidate for ZIKV clinical trials, since it is already approved for clinical use and can be safely administered to pregnant woman.