Evaluation of a novel severe combined immunodeficiency mouse model for antiviral drug evaluation against Chandipura virus infection.

Chandipura virus (CHPV) is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus known to cause fatal encephalitis outbreaks in the Indian subcontinent. The virus displays tropism towards the pediatric population and holds significant public health concerns. Currently, there is no specific, effective therapy for CHPV encephalitis. In this study, we evaluated a novel C.B-17 severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mouse model which can be used for pre-clinical antiviral evaluation. Inoculation of CHPV developed a lethal infection in our model. Plaque assay and immunohistochemistry detected increased viral loads and antigens in various organs, including the brain, spinal cord, adrenal glands, and whole blood. We further conducted a proof-of-concept evaluation of favipiravir in the SCID mouse model. Favipiravir treatment improved survival with pre-symptomatic (days 5-14) and post-symptomatic (days 9-18) treatment. Reduced viral loads were observed in whole blood, kidney/adrenal gland, and brain tissue with favipiravir treatment. The findings in this study demonstrate the utility of SCID mouse for in vivo drug efficacy evaluation and the potential efficacy of favipiravir against CHPV infection.

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Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: The authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Nozomi Nakajima, Takashi Komeno, and Yousuke Furuta are employees of FUJIFILM Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd. Yousuke Furuta is the inventor of favipiravir. Favipiravir used in this study was kindly provided by FUJIFILM Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd.