The Calcium Channel Blocker Bepridil Demonstrates Efficacy in the Murine Model of Marburg Virus Disease

J Infect Dis. 2018 Nov 22;218(suppl_5):S588-S591. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiy332.

Abstract

No therapeutics are approved for the treatment of filovirus infections. Bepridil, a calcium channel blocker developed for treating angina, was identified as a potent inhibitor of filoviruses in vitro, including Ebola and Marburg viruses, and Ebola virus in vivo. We evaluated the efficacy of bepridil in a lethal mouse model of Marburg virus disease. A dose of 12 mg/kg bepridil once or twice daily resulted in 80% or 90% survival, respectively. These data confirm bepridil's broad-spectrum anti-filovirus activity warranting further investigation of bepridil, or improved compounds with a similar mechanism, as a pan-filovirus therapeutic agent.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bepridil / therapeutic use*
  • Calcium Channel Blockers / therapeutic use*
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Marburg Virus Disease / drug therapy*
  • Marburg Virus Disease / mortality
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Vero Cells

Substances

  • Calcium Channel Blockers
  • Bepridil