A combination of doxycycline and ribavirin alleviated chikungunya infection

PLoS One. 2015 May 13;10(5):e0126360. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126360. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Lack of vaccine and effective antiviral drugs against chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreaks have led to significant impact on health care in the developing world. Here, we evaluated the antiviral effects of tetracycline (TETRA) derivatives and other common antiviral agents against CHIKV. Our results showed that within the TETRA derivatives group, Doxycycline (DOXY) exhibited the highest inhibitory effect against CHIKV replication in Vero cells. On the other hand, in the antiviral group Ribavirin (RIBA) showed higher inhibitory effects against CHIKV replication compared to Aciclovir (ACIC). Interestingly, RIBA inhibitory effects were also higher than all but DOXY within the TETRA derivatives group. Docking studies of DOXY to viral cysteine protease and E2 envelope protein showed non-competitive interaction with docking energy of -6.6±0.1 and -6.4±0.1 kcal/mol respectively. The 50% effective concentration (EC50) of DOXY and RIBA was determined to be 10.95±2.12 μM and 15.51±1.62 μM respectively, while DOXY+RIBA (1:1 combination) showed an EC50 of 4.52±1.42 μM. When compared, DOXY showed higher inhibition of viral infectivity and entry than RIBA. In contrast however, RIBA showed higher inhibition against viral replication in target cells compared to DOXY. Assays using mice as animal models revealed that DOXY+RIBA effectively inhibited CHIKV replication and attenuated its infectivity in vivo. Further experimental and clinical studies are warranted to investigate their potential application for clinical intervention of CHIKV disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology*
  • Antiviral Agents / therapeutic use
  • Chikungunya Fever / drug therapy*
  • Chikungunya Fever / virology
  • Chikungunya virus / drug effects*
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Doxycycline / pharmacology*
  • Doxycycline / therapeutic use
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Mice, Inbred ICR
  • Ribavirin / pharmacology*
  • Ribavirin / therapeutic use
  • Vero Cells
  • Virus Attachment / drug effects
  • Virus Replication / drug effects

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • Ribavirin
  • Doxycycline

Grants and funding

Support was provided by the University of Malaya, UMRG Grant RG309-14AFR AND BK-043-2014.