Leflunomide/teriflunomide inhibit Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)- induced lymphoproliferative disease and lytic viral replication.

ABSTRACT: EBV infection causes mononucleosis and is associated with specific subsets of B cell lymphomas. Immunosuppressed patients such as organ transplant recipients are particularly susceptible to EBV-induced lymphoproliferative disease (LPD), which can be fatal. Leflunomide (a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis) and its active metabolite teriflunomide (used to treat multiple sclerosis) inhibit de novo pyrimidine synthesis by targeting the cellular dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, thereby decreasing T cell proliferation. Leflunomide also inhibits the replication of cytomegalovirus and BK virus via both "on target" and "off target" mechanisms and is increasingly used to treat these viruses in organ transplant recipients. However, whether leflunomide/teriflunomide block EBV replication or inhibit

SUBMITTER: Bilger A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5546479 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature