BMC Veterinary Research (Oct 2017)

Curcumin is a promising inhibitor of genotype 2 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infection

  • Taofeng Du,
  • Yunpeng Shi,
  • Shuqi Xiao,
  • Na Li,
  • Qin Zhao,
  • Angke Zhang,
  • Yuchen Nan,
  • Yang Mu,
  • Yani Sun,
  • Chunyan Wu,
  • Hongtao Zhang,
  • En-Min Zhou

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-017-1218-x
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Background Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) could lead to pandemic diseases and huge financial losses to the swine industry worldwide. Curcumin, a natural compound, has been reported to serve as an entry inhibitor of hepatitis C virus, chikungunya virus and vesicular stomatitis virus. In this study, we investigated the potential effect of curcumin on early stages of PRRSV infection. Results Curcumin inhibited infection of Marc-145 cells and porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) by four different genotype 2 PRRSV strains, but had no effect on the levels of major PRRSV receptor proteins on Marc-145 cells and PAMs or on PRRSV binding to Marc-145 cells. However, curcumin did block two steps of the PRRSV infection process: virus internalization and virus-mediated cell fusion. Conclusions Our results suggested that an inhibition of genotype 2 PRRSV infection by curcumin is virus strain-independent, and mainly inhibited by virus internalization and cell fusion mediated by virus. Collectively, these results demonstrate that curcumin holds promise as a new anti-PRRSV drug.

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