Berbamine, a bioactive alkaloid, suppresses equine herpesvirus type 1 in vitro and in vivo

Zeyu Li; Yuanxiu He; Lijuan Ge; Ran Quan; Junzhen Chen; Yue Hu; Ruixue Sa; Jianhua Liu; Duoliang Ran; Qiang Fu; Huijun Shi

doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1163780

Berbamine, a bioactive alkaloid, suppresses equine herpesvirus type 1 in vitro and in vivo

Front Vet Sci. 2023 May 25:10:1163780. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1163780. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Zeyu Li¹, Yuanxiu He¹, Lijuan Ge¹, Ran Quan¹, Junzhen Chen¹, Yue Hu¹, Ruixue Sa¹, Jianhua Liu¹, Duoliang Ran¹, Qiang Fu¹, Huijun Shi¹

Affiliation

¹ College of Veterinary Medicine, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.

Abstract

Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) poses a global threat to equines. The anticancer agent berbamine (BBM), a bioactive alkaloid, has been shown to inhibit viral infection. However, whether BBM can inhibit EHV-1 infection remains unclear. This study investigated the effect of BBM treatment on EHV-1 infection. Quantitative PCR (qPCR), immunoblotting, the Reed-Muench method, and pathological examination were employed to study the ability of BBM to inhibit EHV-1 infection, viral DNA replication, viral protein production, virion secretion, and cytopathogenesis in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro studies revealed that 10 μM BBM effectively suppressed EHV-1 viral entry into cells, viral DNA replication, and virion secretion, while the in vivo studies verified the ability of BBM to suppress EHV-1-induced damage of brain and lung tissues and animal mortality. These findings strongly suggest that BBM could be a serious contender in the therapeutic control of EHV-1 infection of equines.

Keywords: Syrian hamsters; berbamine; equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1); tissue injury; virus replication.