Antiviral activity of Arbidol against Coxsackie virus B5 in vitro and in vivo

We investigated the antiviral activity of Arbidol, an antiviral chemical compound, against Coxsackie virus B5 (CVB(5)) in vitro and in vivo. Arbidol not only prevented the cytopathic effect (CPE) of CVB(5), as demonstrated in an MTT colorimetric assay, when added during or after viral infection, with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) from 2.66 to 6.62 μg/ml, but it also decreased the CVB(5)-RNA level in infected host cells, as shown in semi-quantitative RT-PCR. BALB/c mice were used as an animal model to test the Arbidol activity in vivo. Orally administered Arbidol at 50 mg/kg body weight/day (once a day) significantly reduced mean virus yields in the lungs and heart as well as mortality after infection for 6 days. Our results demonstrate that in vitro and in vivo infection with CVB(5) can be effectively treated by Arbidol.