Eradication of persistent Coxsackievirus B infection from a pancreatic cell line with clinically used antiviral drugs

Abstract Background Persistent enterovirus infections create a difficult therapeutic challenge in immunocompromised patients and may also contribute to the development of chronic diseases including type 1 diabetes, cardiomyopathies, post-polio syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome. Objectives To study the ability of antiviral drugs to eradicate such infection in vitro to evalaute their potential in the treatments of these patients. Study design We set out to evaluate several licensed or clinically tested drugs which have shown some anti-enterovirus activity in previous studies for their ability to cure persistent infection established by two different coxsackievirus B1 strains in a pancreatic cell line (PANC-1 cells). Results Among all tested drugs Enviroxime, Fluoxetine, concentrated human IgG product (Hizentra) and Pleconaril were able to eradicate persistent Coxsackievirus B1 infection. The effect Enviroxime, Hizentra and Pleconaril varied between the two virus strains. Conclusions The identified drugs are feasible candidates for clinical trials among patients with persistent coxsackievirus B infections or chronic enterovirus-associated diseases.