1. Academic Validation
  2. Montelukast Inhibits HCoV-OC43 Infection as a Viral Inactivator

Montelukast Inhibits HCoV-OC43 Infection as a Viral Inactivator

  • Viruses. 2022 Apr 21;14(5):861. doi: 10.3390/v14050861.
Yongkang Chen 1 Xiaohuan Wang 1 Huichun Shi 1 Peng Zou 1
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China.
Abstract

Coronaviruses (CoVs) consist of a large group of RNA viruses causing various diseases in humans and in lots of Animals. Human coronavirus (HCoV) OC43, the prototype of beta-coronavirus discovered in the 1960s, has been circulating in humans for long time, and Infection with other emerging strains of beta-coronavirus (SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV) can lead to severe illness and death. In this study, we found that montelukast, a Leukotriene Receptor antagonist, potently inhibited the Infection of HCoV-OC43 in distinct cells in a dose- and time- dependent manner. Additionally, the results showed that montelukast induced release of HCoV-OC43 genomic RNA by disrupting the integrity of the viral lipid membrane, and irreversibly inhibited viral Infection. Considering the similarity among HCoV-OC43, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2, it suggests that montelukast may be a potential candidate for the treatment of human beta-coronavirus Infection.

Keywords

HCoV-OC43; montelukast; viral inactivator.

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