Protective Effect of Arbidol Against Pulmonary Fibrosis and Sepsis in Mice

Abstract

From the perspective of epidemiology, viral immunology and current clinical research, pulmonary fibrosis may become one of the complications of patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Cytokine storm is a major cause of new coronavirus death. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of antiviral drug arbidol on cytokine storm and pulmonary fibrosis. Here, we use a mouse model of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis and a mouse model of fecal dilution-induced sepsis to evaluate the effects of arbidol on pulmonary fibrosis and cytokine storm. The results showed that arbidol significantly reduced the area of pulmonary fibrosis and improved lung function (reduced inspiratory resistance, lung dynamic compliance and forced vital capacity increased). Treatment with arbidol promoted reduced sepsis severity 48 h after sepsis induction, based on weight, murine sepsis score and survival rate. Arbidol observably alleviates inflammatory infiltrates and injury in the lungs and liver. Finally, we also found that arbidol reduced serum levels of pro-inflammatory factors such as TNF-α and IL-6 induced by fecal dilution. In conclusion, our results indicate that arbidol can alleviate the severity of pulmonary fibrosis and sepsis, and provide some reference for the treatment of cytokine storm and sequelae of pulmonary fibrosis in patients with COVID-19.

Major royal jelly proteins elicited suppression of SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication with halting lung injury

“…Moreover, PF 50 restrained BM-induced lung damage, which is a major cause of COVID-19 patients' deaths. It is evidenced that all of the COVID-19 lung pathogenesis has been experimentally verified in the BM model [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , which is consistent with our results. Compared with other organs, the lungs are more vulnerable to BM toxicity because of their lack of a BM-hydrolyzing enzyme [56] .…”

A systematic review and meta‑analysis of Arbidol therapy for acute respiratory viral infections: A potential treatment for COVID‑19

“…In addition, ARB inhibits the release of several pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNF-a) in serum induced by influenza ( 46 ). The inhibitory effect of ARB on sudden cytokine storm in patients with COVID-19 has also been suggested ( 47 ). Furthermore, ARB can influence non-specific defense factors, induce interferon and specifically activate phagocytes ( 48 ).…”

Lessons from SARS‑CoV‑2 and its variants (Review)

“…High-dose chloroquine for coVid-19 treatment is not recommended due to its toxic side effects, including increased levels of liver enzymes, corrected QT level prolongation and increased death rate (95,96). umifenovir (arbidol) is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug for treatment of influenza that targets the interaction between S protein and ace2; it has been shown to inhibit membrane fusion, thereby inhibiting virus diffusion into host cells (97,98). clinical data show that it is more effective compared with lopinavir/ritonavir (89,99), although certain clinical trials have shown contrary results on patients with mild/moderate coVid-19 (100).…”