Molnupiravir and Its Active Form, EIDD-1931, Show Potent Antiviral Activity against Enterovirus Infections In Vitro and In Vivo
Enterovirus infections may cause hands, feet, and mouth disease (HFDM), aseptic meningitis, encephalitis, myocarditis, and acute flaccid myelitis, resulting in dying of infants and youthful children. However, no specific antiviral drug is presently available to treat this kind of infection. The U . S and Uk health government bodies lately approved a brand new antiviral drug, molnupiravir, to treat COVID-19. Within this study, we reported that molnupiravir (EIDD-2801) and it is active form, EIDD-1931, have broad-spectrum anti-enterovirus potential. Our data demonstrated that EIDD-1931 could considerably reduce producing EV-A71 progeny virus and also the expression of EV-A71 viral protein at non-cytotoxic concentrations. The outcomes of times-of-addition assay claim that EIDD-1931 functions in the publish-entry step, that is in compliance using its antiviral mechanism. The intraperitoneal administration of EIDD-1931 and EIDD-2801 protected 1-day-old ICR suckling rodents from lethal EV-A71 challenge by reduction of the viral load in a variety of tissues from the infected rodents. The pharmacokinetics analysis established that the plasma drug concentration overwhelmed the EC50 for enteroviruses, suggesting the clinical potential of molnupiravir against enteroviruses. Thus, molnupiravir and its active form, EIDD-1931, can be a promising drug candidate against enterovirus infections.