Abstract
The outbreak of the novel Tilapia tilapinevirus or Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) is having a severe economic impact on global tilapia aquaculture. Effective treatments and vaccines for TiLV are lacking. In this study, we demonstrated the antiviral activity of ribavirin against TiLV in E-11 cells. Our findings revealed that at concentrations above 100 μg/mL, ribavirin efficiently attenuates the cytopathic effect of the TiLV infection in fish cells. When administered in a dose-dependent manner, ribavirin significantly improved cell survival compared to the untreated control cells. Further investigation revealed that the cells exposed to ribavirin and TiLV had a lower viral load (p < 0.05) than the untreated cells. However, at concentrations above 1000 μg/mL, ribavirin led to cell toxicity. Taken together, our results demonstrate the efficacy of this antiviral drug against TiLV and could be a useful tool for future research on the pathogenesis and replication mechanism of TiLV as well as other piscine viruses.
Highlights
Tilapia lake virus (TiLV), or Tilapia tilapinevirus, is the etiological agent of Tilapia lake virus disease (TiLVD), which is having a severe economic impact on the global tilapia industry [1]
This study presents the first evidence of the application of the antiviral tive studies on therapeutics or compounds to control TiLV outbreaks, especially antiviral agent ribavirin against TiLV in fish cells in vitro
We demonstrated that ribavirin could improve cell survival against TiLV infection, a high ribavirin concentration of 1000 μg/mL had a strong negative impact on the survival of the E-11 cells
Summary
Tilapia lake virus (TiLV), or Tilapia tilapinevirus, is the etiological agent of Tilapia lake virus disease (TiLVD), which is having a severe economic impact on the global tilapia industry [1]. Segment 1 of the virus shares a weak sequence homology with the end of the polymerase of the influenza C virus [3]. The clinical signs and gross pathology of infected fish are anorexia, abnormal swimming, severe anemia, exophthalmia, skin erosion and congestion, scale protrusion, and abdominal swelling. Fish that survive TiLVD develop a protective immunity partly through antibody production that prevents them from later infection [14]
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