Dengue virus causes changes of MicroRNA-genes regulatory network revealing potential targets for antiviral drugs

BACKGROUND: Dengue virus (DENV) is an increasing global health threat and associated with induction of both a long-lived protective immune response and immune-suppression. So far, the potency of treatment of DENV via antiviral drugs is still under investigation. Recently, increasing evidences suggest the potential role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating DENV. The present study focused on the function of miRNAs in innate insusceptible reactions and organization of various types of immune cells and inflammatory responses for DENV. Three drugs were tested including antiviral herbal medicine ReDuNing (RDN), Loratadine (LRD) and Acetaminophen. RESULTS: By the microarray expression of miRNAs in 165 Patients. Results showed that 89 active miRNAs interacted with 499 potential target genes, during antiviral treatment throughout the critical stage of DENV. Interestingly, reduction of the illness threats using RDN combined with LRD treatment showed better results than Acetaminophen alone. The inhibitions of DENV was confirmed by decrease concentrations of cytokines and interleukin parameters; like TNF-α, IFN-γ, TGF-β1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12, and IL-17; after treatment and some coagulants factors increased. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a preliminary support to suggest that the herbal medicine RDN combined with LRD can reduce both susceptibility and the severity of DENV. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12918-017-0518-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.