Rapid control of pandemic H1N1 influenza by targeting NKT-cells

• DOI: 10.1038/srep37999
• Publication Date: 2016-11-29T10:07:21Z
• Authors: Bianca L. Artiaga; Guan Yang; Tarun E. Hutchinson; Julia C. Loeb; Jürgen A. Richt; John A. Lednicky; Shahram Salek-Ard...; John P. Driver
• Keywords: Pandemic

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 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 efficacy invariant natural killer T (NKT) cell superagonist, α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), which stimulates wide array anti-viral immune responses. We show that intranasal not systemic administration α-GalCer to piglets infected with pandemic A/California/04/2009 (CA04) H1N1 IAV ameliorated symptoms resulted restoration weight gain level uninfected pigs. Correspondingly, titers upper-and lower-respiratory tract were reduced only had received α-GalCer. Most significantly, lung inflammation consequence virus persistence was largely prevented when NKT-cells targeted via route. Thus, targeting mucosal may provide novel potent platform improving course swine seasonal viruses, leads suggestion also be true humans therefore deserves further study.