BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Vet. Sci.

Sec. Veterinary Infectious Diseases

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1623545

Antiviral activity of Nitazoxanide against pseudorabies virus infection in vitro

Provisionally accepted
Lei TanLei Tan1*Zhu PeiZhu Pei2Getu ZhaoriGetu Zhaori3Xi YangXi Yang1Shiling ZhengShiling Zheng1Yuqing DuanYuqing Duan1Jinping WangJinping Wang2Yi ZhouYi Zhou4Yuyang HuYuyang Hu1Yijing WangYijing Wang1Yuying YangYuying Yang1Meng-Ting ZuoMeng-Ting Zuo5Jun YaoJun Yao2
  • 1College of Animal Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
  • 2Yunnan Tropical and Subtropical Animal Virus Diseases Laboratory, Yunnan Animal Science and Veterinary Institute, Kunming, China
  • 3Chifeng Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry, Chifeng, China
  • 4Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the TCM Agricultural Biogenomics, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, China
  • 5Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the TCM Agricultural Biogenomics，Changsha Medical University, Changsha, China

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Pseudorabies (PR), an infectious disease caused by pseudorabies virus (PRV), has been responsible for substantial economic losses within the global swine industry. However, effective control measures and vaccines against PRV remain limited, thereby underscoring the necessity for the development of innovative antiviral agents targeting PRV. Nitazoxanide (NTZ) is an FDA-approved anthelminthic drug, has shown efficacy in inhibiting a variety of viral infections. This study aims to evaluate the antiviral properties of NTZ against PRV infection in vitro.The findings demonstrated that NTZ treatment significantly inhibited PRV infection in a dose-dependent manner in both PK15 and Vero cell lines, with the primary inhibitory effect occurring during the viral replication phase, rather than during the attachment, entry, or release phases of the virus. Subsequent RNA-Seq analysis revealed that cellular signaling pathways related to oxidative stress were implicated in the antiviral efficacy of NTZ against PRV infection. In conclusion, our findings implicate that NTZ effectively suppress PRV infection in vitro, suggesting its potential as a promising antiviral candidate for the clinical interventions in Alphaherpesvirinae infections.

Keywords: Nitazoxanide, pseudorabies virus, Antiviral activity, viral replication phase, RNA-Seq

Received: 06 May 2025; Accepted: 30 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Tan, Pei, Zhaori, Yang, Zheng, Duan, Wang, Zhou, Hu, Wang, Yang, Zuo and Yao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Lei Tan, College of Animal Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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