1. Carbocisteine attenuates influenza virus A replication in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of virus-infected mice
- Author
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Shu Hashimoto, Shuichiro Maruoka, Eriko Tsuboi, Ikuko Takeshita, Kazufumi Shimizu, Kazumichi Kuroda, Sotaro Shikano, Kaori Soda, and Yasuhiro Gon
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Virus quantification ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,respiratory system ,medicine.disease_cause ,Virology ,Virus ,respiratory tract diseases ,Bronchoalveolar lavage ,In vivo ,Carbocisteine ,Immunology ,Influenza A virus ,medicine ,Nasal administration ,business ,Pathogen ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Background: Influenza A virus (FluA) is a major pathogen that leads public health problems worldwide. Especially novel strains of FluA cause pandemic with mortality. Carbocisteine is a mucoregulatory drug that reduces FluA-induced exacerbations in pulmonary diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, little is known about the mechanism of inhibitory effects of carbocisteine on FluA infection in vivo . Objective: To determine whether carbocisteine attenuates FluA replication in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs) in FluA-infected mice. Methods: C57BL/6J mice were infected with FluA (Udorn/307/72(H3N2)) intranasally. We administered carbocisteine (100mg/kg) intraperitoneally twice a day for 5 days, from 3 days before the FluA infection to the day after the FluA infection. Two days after the FluA infection, we collected lung tissues and BALFs from FluA with vehicle and from FluA with carbocisteine-exposed mice. We measured FluA replication of BALFs using plaque assay and counted the number of inflammatory cells in BALFs. Results: Carbocisteine significantly attenuates FluA replication in the BALFs of FluA-infected mice when compared to the FluA replication in control mice, but it did not inhibit the infiltration of neutrophils in BALFs by FluA infection. Conclusion: Our data suggest that carbocisteine might protect against FluA replication in vivo.
- Published
- 2015
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