Rapid control of pandemic H1N1 influenza by targeting NKT-cells.

ABSTRACT: Swine influenza A viruses (IAV) are a major cause of respiratory disease in pigs and humans. Currently approved anti-influenza therapies directly target the virus, but these approaches are losing effectiveness as new viral strains quickly develop drug resistance. To over come this challenge, there is an urgent need for more effective antiviral drugs. Here we tested the anti-influenza efficacy of the invariant natural killer T (NKT) cell superagonist, α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), which stimulates a wide array of anti-viral immune responses. We show that intranasal but not systemic administration of α-GalCer to piglets infected with pandemic A/California/04/2009 (CA04) H1N1 IAV ameliorated disease symptoms and resulted in the restoration of weight gain to the level of uninfected pigs. Co

SUBMITTER: Artiaga BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5126553 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature