Abstract
Tilorone dihydrochloride (tilorone) is a small-molecule, orally bioavailable drug that is used clinically as an antiviral outside the United States. A machine-learning model trained on anti-Ebola virus (EBOV) screening data previously identified tilorone as a potent in vitro EBOV inhibitor, making it a candidate for the treatment of Ebola virus disease (EVD). In the present study, a series of in vitro ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity) assays demonstrated the drug has excellent solubility, high Caco-2 permeability, was not a P-glycoprotein substrate, and had no inhibitory activity against five human CYP450 enzymes (3A4, 2D6, 2C19, 2C9, and 1A2). Tilorone was shown to have 52% human plasma protein binding with excellent plasma stability and a mouse liver microsome half-life of 48 min. Dose range-finding studies in mice demonstrated a maximum tolerated single dose of 100 mg/kg of body weight. A pharmacokinetics study in mice at 2- and 10-mg/kg dose levels showed that the drug is rapidly absorbed, has dose-dependent increases in maximum concentration of unbound drug in plasma and areas under the concentration-time curve, and has a half-life of approximately 18 h in both males and females, although the exposure was 2.5-fold higher in male mice. Tilorone doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg proved efficacious in protecting 90% of mice from a lethal challenge with mouse-adapted with once-daily intraperitoneal (i.p.) dosing for 8 days. A subsequent study showed that 30 mg/kg/day of tilorone given i.p. starting 2 or 24 h postchallenge and continuing through day 7 postinfection was fully protective, indicating promising activity for the treatment of EVD.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | e01711-17 |
| Journal | Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 1 2018 |
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Keywords
- Antiviral
- Ebola virus
- Ebola virus disease
- Interferon inducer
- Tilorone
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmacology
- Pharmacology (medical)
- Infectious Diseases
Cite this
Efficacy of tilorone dihydrochloride against ebola virus infection. / Ekins, Sean; Lingerfelt, Mary A.; Comer, Jason; Freiberg, Alexander; Mirsalis, Jon C.; O’Loughlin, Kathleen; Harutyunyan, Anush; McFarlane, Claire; Green, Carol E.; Madrid, Peter B.
In: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Vol. 62, No. 2, e01711-17, 01.02.2018.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Efficacy of tilorone dihydrochloride against ebola virus infection
AU - Ekins, Sean
AU - Lingerfelt, Mary A.
AU - Comer, Jason
AU - Freiberg, Alexander
AU - Mirsalis, Jon C.
AU - O’Loughlin, Kathleen
AU - Harutyunyan, Anush
AU - McFarlane, Claire
AU - Green, Carol E.
AU - Madrid, Peter B.
PY - 2018/2/1
Y1 - 2018/2/1
N2 - Tilorone dihydrochloride (tilorone) is a small-molecule, orally bioavailable drug that is used clinically as an antiviral outside the United States. A machine-learning model trained on anti-Ebola virus (EBOV) screening data previously identified tilorone as a potent in vitro EBOV inhibitor, making it a candidate for the treatment of Ebola virus disease (EVD). In the present study, a series of in vitro ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity) assays demonstrated the drug has excellent solubility, high Caco-2 permeability, was not a P-glycoprotein substrate, and had no inhibitory activity against five human CYP450 enzymes (3A4, 2D6, 2C19, 2C9, and 1A2). Tilorone was shown to have 52% human plasma protein binding with excellent plasma stability and a mouse liver microsome half-life of 48 min. Dose range-finding studies in mice demonstrated a maximum tolerated single dose of 100 mg/kg of body weight. A pharmacokinetics study in mice at 2- and 10-mg/kg dose levels showed that the drug is rapidly absorbed, has dose-dependent increases in maximum concentration of unbound drug in plasma and areas under the concentration-time curve, and has a half-life of approximately 18 h in both males and females, although the exposure was 2.5-fold higher in male mice. Tilorone doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg proved efficacious in protecting 90% of mice from a lethal challenge with mouse-adapted with once-daily intraperitoneal (i.p.) dosing for 8 days. A subsequent study showed that 30 mg/kg/day of tilorone given i.p. starting 2 or 24 h postchallenge and continuing through day 7 postinfection was fully protective, indicating promising activity for the treatment of EVD.
AB - Tilorone dihydrochloride (tilorone) is a small-molecule, orally bioavailable drug that is used clinically as an antiviral outside the United States. A machine-learning model trained on anti-Ebola virus (EBOV) screening data previously identified tilorone as a potent in vitro EBOV inhibitor, making it a candidate for the treatment of Ebola virus disease (EVD). In the present study, a series of in vitro ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity) assays demonstrated the drug has excellent solubility, high Caco-2 permeability, was not a P-glycoprotein substrate, and had no inhibitory activity against five human CYP450 enzymes (3A4, 2D6, 2C19, 2C9, and 1A2). Tilorone was shown to have 52% human plasma protein binding with excellent plasma stability and a mouse liver microsome half-life of 48 min. Dose range-finding studies in mice demonstrated a maximum tolerated single dose of 100 mg/kg of body weight. A pharmacokinetics study in mice at 2- and 10-mg/kg dose levels showed that the drug is rapidly absorbed, has dose-dependent increases in maximum concentration of unbound drug in plasma and areas under the concentration-time curve, and has a half-life of approximately 18 h in both males and females, although the exposure was 2.5-fold higher in male mice. Tilorone doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg proved efficacious in protecting 90% of mice from a lethal challenge with mouse-adapted with once-daily intraperitoneal (i.p.) dosing for 8 days. A subsequent study showed that 30 mg/kg/day of tilorone given i.p. starting 2 or 24 h postchallenge and continuing through day 7 postinfection was fully protective, indicating promising activity for the treatment of EVD.
KW - Antiviral
KW - Ebola virus
KW - Ebola virus disease
KW - Interferon inducer
KW - Tilorone
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85040963085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85040963085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1128/AAC.01711-17
DO - 10.1128/AAC.01711-17
M3 - Article
C2 - 29133569
AN - SCOPUS:85040963085
VL - 62
JO - Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
JF - Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
SN - 0066-4804
IS - 2
M1 - e01711-17
ER -