Class
Article
College
College of Science
Department
Biology Department
Faculty Mentor
Justin Julander
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Yellow fever virus (YFV) has long been a worldwide health concern, and recent outbreaks in South America have resulted in significant mortality. Though there is an effective preventative vaccine, currently there are no antiviral compounds approved to treat those already infected. The nucleoside analog drug favipiravir is shown to significantly improve disease signs but is toxic in effective doses. Compound X has been shown to have synergistic effects with favipiravir by increasing the amounts of active favipiravir (ribosylated favipiravir triphosphate) in cell culture. In this study, we administered suboptimal doses of favipiravir with fixed doses of compound X to determine the antiviral efficacy of this combination treatment in a hamster model of YF. Combination treatments of compound X with favipiravir were shown to have significantly more antiviral effects than either treatment alone. Future studies should focus on evaluating the minimum dosing of favipiravir needed to combine with compound X in order to achieve antiviral effects. With future research, an effective antiviral compound for YFV infection can be developed to alleviate the suffering of millions affected by this disease.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-12-2023 12:30 PM
End Date
4-12-2023 1:30 PM
Included in
Compound Drug Treatment of Yellow Fever Virus: Evaluation of Compound X in the Enhancement of Favipiravir Potency in a Hamster Model of Yellow Fever Virus Infection
Logan, UT
Yellow fever virus (YFV) has long been a worldwide health concern, and recent outbreaks in South America have resulted in significant mortality. Though there is an effective preventative vaccine, currently there are no antiviral compounds approved to treat those already infected. The nucleoside analog drug favipiravir is shown to significantly improve disease signs but is toxic in effective doses. Compound X has been shown to have synergistic effects with favipiravir by increasing the amounts of active favipiravir (ribosylated favipiravir triphosphate) in cell culture. In this study, we administered suboptimal doses of favipiravir with fixed doses of compound X to determine the antiviral efficacy of this combination treatment in a hamster model of YF. Combination treatments of compound X with favipiravir were shown to have significantly more antiviral effects than either treatment alone. Future studies should focus on evaluating the minimum dosing of favipiravir needed to combine with compound X in order to achieve antiviral effects. With future research, an effective antiviral compound for YFV infection can be developed to alleviate the suffering of millions affected by this disease.