title: Synergistic antiviral activity of ribavirin and interferon-α against parrot bornaviruses in avian cells.
abstract: Avian bornaviruses are the causative agents of proventricular dilatation disease (PDD), a widely distributed and often fatal disease in captive psittacines. Because neither specific prevention measures nor therapies against PDD and bornavirus infections are currently available, new antiviral strategies are required to improve animal health. We show here that the nucleoside analogue ribavirin inhibited bornavirus activity in a polymerase reconstitution assay and reduced viral load in avian cell lines infected with two different parrot bornaviruses. Furthermore, we observed that ribavirin enhanced type I IFN signalling in avian cells. Combined treatment of avian bornavirus-infected cells with ribavirin and recombinant IFN-α strongly enhanced the antiviral efficiency compared to either drug alone. The combined use of ribavirin and type I IFN might represent a promising new strategy for therapeutic treatment of captive parrots persistently infected with avian bornaviruses.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 11, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.affiliation: Transboundary Animal Diseases Research Center, Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan.|United Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi 753-851, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Südufer 10, D-17493 Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Höper
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 11, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohnemus
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 11, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narr
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Ornamental Fish, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University Ludwig Maximilian Munich, Sonnenstr. 18, D-85764 Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rinder
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Südufer 10, D-17493 Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 11, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Staeheli
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 11, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rubbenstroth
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D028981:Bornaviridae / Q000187:drug effects*; D002460:Cell Line; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010311:Parrots; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012254:Ribavirin