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. 2022 May 23;19(1):88.
doi: 10.1186/s12985-022-01823-0.

In vitro anti-influenza assessment of anionic compounds ascorbate, acetate and citrate

Hadiseh Shokouhi Targhi  1 , Parvaneh Mehrbod  2 , Fatemeh Fotouhi  3 , Mehriar Amininasab  4
Affiliations

In vitro anti-influenza assessment of anionic compounds ascorbate, acetate and citrate

Hadiseh Shokouhi Targhi et al. Virol J. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Influenza A virus (IAV) infection remains a serious public health threat. Due to drug resistance and side effects of the conventional antiviral drugs, repurposing the available natural compounds with high tolerability and fewer side effects has attracted researchers' attention. The aim of this study was to screen in vitro anti-influenza activity of three anionic compounds ascorbate, acetate, and citrate.

Methods: The non-cytotoxic concentration of the compounds was determined by MTT assay and examined for the activity against IAV in simultaneous, pre-, and post-penetration combination treatments over 1 h incubation on Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell line. The virus titer and viral load were determined using hemagglutination assay (HA) and qPCR, respectively. Few pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were evaluated at RNA and protein levels by qPCR and ELISA, respectively.

Results: The non-cytotoxic concentrations of the ascorbate (200 mg/ml), acetate and citrate (both 3 mg/ml) reduced the viral titer by 6.5, 4.5, and 1.5 logs in the simultaneous combination treatment. The M protein gene copy number decreased significantly in simultaneous treatment (P < 0.01). The expression of cytokines was also affected by the treatment of these compounds.

Conclusions: These anionic compounds could affect the influenza virus load, thereby reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines and increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines levels.

Keywords: Acetate; Ascorbate; Citrate; Cytokine; Influenza A virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Log2 HA decrements. The log decrements were obtained from HA assay for the compounds combination treatments as compared to H1N1
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Concentrations and percentage of changes of cytokine proteins relative to H1N1 as determined by ELISA. The upper panel shows the concentrations of the cytokine proteins. The lower panel shows the percentage of changes of cytokine proteins relative to H1N1
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Relative expression analysis of the genes calculated as fold change compared to H1N1. Co: co-penetration
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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