Assessment of the antiviral properties of recombinant surfactant protein D against influenza B virus in vitro.

The armamentarium of antiviral drugs against influenza viruses is limited. Furthermore, influenza viruses emerge that are resistant to existing antiviral drugs like the M2 and NA inhibitors. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of novel classes of antiviral drugs. Here we investigated the antiviral properties of recombinant porcine surfactant protein D (RpSP-D), an innate defense molecule with lectin properties, against influenza B viruses. We have previously shown that porcine SP-D has more potent neutralizing activity against influenza A viruses than human SP-D. Here we show that RpSP-D neutralizes influenza B viruses efficiently and inhibited the binding of these viruses to epithelial cells of the human trachea.

Assessment of the antiviral properties of recombinant porcine SP-D against various influenza A viruses in vitro.

The emergence of influenza viruses resistant to existing classes of antiviral drugs raises concern and there is a need for novel antiviral agents that could be used therapeutically or prophylacticaly. Surfactant protein D (SP-D) belongs to the family of C-type lectins which are important effector molecules of the innate immune system with activity against bacteria and viruses, including influenza viruses. In the present study we evaluated the potential of recombinant porcine SP-D as an antiviral agent against influenza A viruses (IAVs) in vitro. To determine the range of antiviral activity, thirty IAVs of the subtypes H1N1, H3N2 and H5N1 that originated from birds, pigs and humans were selected and tested for their sensitivity to recombinant SP-D. Using these viruses it was shown by hemagglutination inhibition assay, that recombinant porcine SP-D was more potent than recombinant human SP-D and that especially higher order oligomeric forms of SP-D had the strongest antiviral activity. Porcine SP-D was active against a broad range of IAV strains and neutralized a variety of H1N1 and H3N2 IAVs, including 2009 pandemic H1N1 viruses. Using tissue sections of ferret and human trachea, we demonstrated that recombinant porcine SP-D prevented attachment of human seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 virus to receptors on epithelial cells of the upper respiratory tract. It was concluded that recombinant porcine SP-D holds promise as a novel antiviral agent against influenza and further development and evaluation in vivo seems warranted.