Effect of dipterinyl calcium pentahydrate on hepatitis B virus replication in transgenic mice

BACKGROUND: Dipterinyl calcium pentahydrate (DCP) has previously been shown to inhibit MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer xenographs in nude mice in a manner correlated with increases in plasma IL-12 and IL-4 concentrations, and decreases in plasma IL-6 levels. DCP also inhibits indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an immuno-inhibitory enzyme, in human PBMCs (Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells). METHODS: In the present study, DCP was administered per os, once daily for 14 days to hepatitis B virus (HBV) transgenic mice at 23, 7.3, and 2.3 mg/(kg d). Multivariate stepwise regression and MANOVA analyses, by gender and treatment, of liver HBV DNA and RNA measures, liver core and serum HBe antigen assays, serum cytokine/chemokine profiles, and IDO metabolite measurements were performed. RESULTS: DCP caused a significant dose-response reduction of log liver HBV DNA as measured by PCR in the female HBV mice. The gender dependence of the anti-HBV DNA activity was explained by the DCP Effects Model (DCP-EM) (p = .001) which includes three serum biomarker changes caused by DCP: 1) decreased MCP-1; 2) decreased Kyn/Trp (an estimation of IDO activity); and 3) increased GM-CSF. CONCLUSIONS: Immunomodulation via IDO or TDO (tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase) pathways, along with serum MCP-1 and GM-CSF are proposed to play roles in the anti-HBV mechanism of DCP based upon their coordinated modulation in the reduction of viral DNA replication in HBV mice.