In silico analysis suggests repurposing of ibuprofen for prevention and treatment of EBOLA virus disease [v1; ref status: indexed, http://f1000r.es/5bs]
Veljko Veljkovic,
Marco Goeijenbier,
Sanja Glisic,
Nevena Veljkovic,
Vladimir R. Perovic,
Milan Sencanski,
Donald R. Branch,
Slobodan Paessler
Affiliations
Veljko Veljkovic
Center for Multidisciplinary Research, Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, University of Belgrade, Mihajla Petrovica 12-14, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
Marco Goeijenbier
Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sanja Glisic
Center for Multidisciplinary Research, Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, University of Belgrade, Mihajla Petrovica 12-14, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
Nevena Veljkovic
Center for Multidisciplinary Research, Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, University of Belgrade, Mihajla Petrovica 12-14, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
Vladimir R. Perovic
Center for Multidisciplinary Research, Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, University of Belgrade, Mihajla Petrovica 12-14, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
Milan Sencanski
Center for Multidisciplinary Research, Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, University of Belgrade, Mihajla Petrovica 12-14, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia
Donald R. Branch
Canadian Blood Services, Center for Innovation, 67 College Street, Toronto, M5G 2M1, Canada
Slobodan Paessler
Department of Pathology, Galveston National Laboratory, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX, USA
The large 2014/2015 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa points out the urgent need to develop new preventive and therapeutic approaches that are effective against Ebola viruses and can be rapidly utilized. Recently, a simple theoretical criterion for the virtual screening of molecular libraries for candidate inhibitors of Ebola virus infection was proposed. Using this method the ‘drug space’ was screened and 267 approved and 382 experimental drugs as candidates for treatment of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) have been selected. Detailed analysis of these drugs revealed the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen as an inexpensive, widely accessible and minimally toxic candidate for prevention and treatment of EVD. Furthermore, the molecular mechanism underlying this possible protective effect of ibuprofen against EVD is suggested in this article.