Amlodipine and Diltiazem Significantly Repress Human Rotavirus Infection in Vitro Publisher Pubmed



Khales P¹ ; Keyvani H¹ ; Ataeipirkooh A¹ ; Saghafi MM^{2, 3} ; Bokharaeisalim F¹ ; Ghorbani S¹ ; Monavari SH¹ ; Kiani SJ¹ ; Esghaei M¹ ; Farahmand M⁴ ; Sayyahfar S⁵ ; Khanaliha K⁵ ; Habib Z¹ ; Tavakoli A⁵
Source: Recent Advances in Anti-Infective Drug Discovery Published:2023

Abstract

Background: Considering the role of calcium in the replication and morpho-genesis of rotaviruses, it is hypothesized that decreased cytosolic calcium levels by using calcium channel blockers can subsequently interfere with rotavirus replication. Objective: The present study investigated the effects of two calcium ion channel block-ers, amlodipine and diltiazem, against human rotavirus infection. Methods: Cytotoxic effects of the drugs on MA-104 cells were evaluated using the neu-tral red assay. The effects of amlodipine and diltiazem at non-toxic concentrations on human rotavirus were examined using cytopathic effect inhibition, TCID50, and real-time PCR assays. Results: The highest inhibitory effect was obtained at concentrations of 0.5 µg/ml of am-lodipine and 3 µg/ml of diltiazem, leading to 4.6 and 5.5 logarithmic reductions in infectious rotavirus titer and four-and a five-fold increase in the Ct values compared to the virus control, respectively (p-value < 0.001). Conversely, infectious rotavirus titers were significantly elevated compared to the virus control at concentrations above 0.9 µg/ml of amlodipine and above 25 µg/ml of diltiazem. Conclusion: Our study suggests that in addition to cardiovascular diseases, calcium channel blockers at their optimal doses may also be used to treat gastroenteritis caused by rotavirus infection. © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.