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Anti-viral and immunomodulatory effects of Zafirlukast against flaviviruses via inhibition of the TNF signaling pathway
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  • Thamil Vaani Komarasamy,
  • Javier Gilbert-Jaramillo,
  • Nur Amelia Azreen Adnan,
  • William S. James,
  • Vinod Balasubramaniam
Thamil Vaani Komarasamy
Monash University Malaysia Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences
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Javier Gilbert-Jaramillo
University of Oxford Sir William Dunn School of Pathology
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Nur Amelia Azreen Adnan
Monash University Malaysia Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences
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William S. James
University of Oxford Sir William Dunn School of Pathology
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Vinod Balasubramaniam
Monash University Malaysia Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

The two most clinically important members of the flavivirus genus, Zika virus (ZIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) pose a significant public health challenge. They cause a range of diseases in humans, from hemorrhagic to neurological manifestations, leading to economic and social burden worldwide. Nevertheless, there are no approved antiviral drugs to treat these infections. Zafirlukast is an orally available Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug for the prophylaxis and treatment of chronic asthma. It is a leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA) with high selectivity of the cysteinyl leukotriene-1 receptor (CYSLTR1) that acts as immune modulator. Thus, we evaluated the antiviral potential of Zafirlukast against ZIKV and DENV in SK-N-SH cells. We showed that Zafirlukast exhibited potent antiviral activity against ZIKV, which could be linked to Zafirlukast’s immune blockade of TNF signaling pathways and its downstream signaling pathways such as MAPK and ERK1/2. In addition, our results showed that Zafirlukast also counteracts ZIKV-induced changes in key genes involved in cellular lipid metabolism. Thus, these findings highlight the translational potential of optimizing Zafirlukast as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of ZIKV and DENV.
21 Jul 2024Submitted to Journal of Medical Virology
27 Jul 2024Submission Checks Completed
27 Jul 2024Assigned to Editor
27 Jul 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
21 Aug 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned