The citrus flavonoid naringenin impairs the in vitro infection of human cells by Zika virus

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 16348 - 15
• Main Authors: Cataneo, Allan Henrique Depieri, Kuczera, Diogo, Koishi, Andrea Cristine, Zanluca, Camila, Silveira, Guilherme Ferreira, Arruda, Thais Bonato de, Suzukawa, Andréia Akemi, Bortot, Leandro Oliveira, Dias-Baruffi, Marcelo, Verri, Waldiceu Aparecido, Robert, Anny Waloski, Stimamiglio, Marco Augusto, Duarte dos Santos, Claudia Nunes, Wowk, Pryscilla Fanini, Bordignon, Juliano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08-11-2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 13; 13/106; 13/2; 13/31; 14/1; 14/63; 38/77; 631/326/596/1296; 692/699/255/2514; A549 Cells; Anti-Ulcer Agents - chemistry; Anti-Ulcer Agents - pharmacology; Antiviral activity; Antiviral Agents - chemistry; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Biological activity; Birth defects; Cell Survival; Citrus - chemistry; Congenital defects; Dendritic cells; Flavanones - chemistry; Flavanones - pharmacology; Flavonoids; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Infections; Microencephaly; Molecular Docking Simulation; Monocytes; multidisciplinary; Naringenin; NS3 protein; Replication; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Vector-borne diseases; Virus Assembly; Virus Replication; Zika virus; Zika Virus - drug effects; Zika Virus Infection - drug therapy; Zika Virus Infection - virology
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52626-3

The Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arthropod-borne virus that belongs to the
Flaviviridae
family. The ZIKV infection is usually asymptomatic or is associated with mild clinical manifestations; however, increased numbers of cases of microcephaly and birth defects have been recently reported. To date, neither a vaccine nor an antiviral treatment has become available to control ZIKV replication. Among the natural compounds recognized for their medical properties, flavonoids, which can be found in fruits and vegetables, have been found to possess biological activity against a variety of viruses. Here, we demonstrate that the citrus flavanone naringenin (NAR) prevented ZIKV infection in human A549 cells in a concentration-dependent and ZIKV-lineage independent manner. NAR antiviral activity was also observed when primary human monocyte-derived dendritic cells were infected by ZIKV. NAR displayed its antiviral activity when the cells were treated after infection, suggesting that NAR acts on the viral replication or assembly of viral particles. Moreover, a molecular docking analysis suggests a potential interaction between NAR and the protease domain of the NS2B-NS3 protein of ZIKV which could explain the anti-ZIKV activity of NAR. Finally, the results support the potential of NAR as a suitable candidate molecule for developing anti-ZIKV treatments.