Work

Probenecid Treatment Inhibits Replication of the Edmonston Measles Virus Strain in Vero Cells

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: There are no FDA-approved antiviral treatments for measles virus (MeV). Management is mainly supportive care. MeV treatments may include vitamin A, ribavirin, the MeV vaccine, or human immunoglobulin for pregnant patients exposed to MeV but lacking immunity. The Edmonston strain of MeV serves as the basis for the MeV vaccine and remains a component of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. We previously showed that probenecid can be used therapeutically to prevent the replication of several key respiratory viruses. This study indicates that pre-treatment with probenecid (prophylaxis) can inhibit the replication of the Edmonston MeV strain in VeroE6 cells (1.12 μM) and Vero-SLAM cells (1.03 μM), while treatment (1 h post-infection, hpi) inhibits replication in VeroE6 cells (1.32 μM) and Vero-SLAM cells (8.66 μM). These results suggest that probenecid is an effective, host-directed antiviral drug against MeV replication in vitro.

Source: Viruses

DOI: 10.3390/v17111475

Authors: Jackelyn Murray, David E. Martin, Ralph A. Tripp

Institution: University of Georgia

Language: English

Topic: Virology and Viral Diseases

Subfield: Epidemiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,137