Antiviral Drugs Against Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus Infection

Takayama-Ito, Mutsuyo; Saijo, Masayuki

Screening a library of 700 FDA-approved drugs identified the CCBs benidipine hydrochloride and nifedipine as inhibitors of SFTSV replication in vitro by impairing virus internalization and reducing genome replication during the post-entry phase . This mechanism did not affect viral binding, fusion, and budding. The results of in vitro study suggested that treatment with benidipine hydrochloride or nifedipine inhibited SFTSV replication by reducing virus induced Ca 2+ influx. The anti-SFTSV effect of these two CCBs was further analyzed in C57BL/6 mice and humanized mouse models ( Table 2) , revealing treatment effects of a reduced viral load, increased platelet count, and decreased fatality rate in the humanized mouse model.