Abstract
Purpose: :
Many human adenovirus (HAdV) serotypes cause the most common external ocular viral infections. In particular, adenoviral conjunctivitis is known to be the major cause of acute infections associated with community and nosocomial epidemics. In innate immunity, antimicrobial peptides has an important role of self protection of ocular surface. hCAP (human cationic antimicrobial protein)-18 is a linear, α-helical peptides and consists of a conserved prosequence called the cathelin like domain and a C- terminal peptide named LL-37 . We investigated antiadenovirus activity of hCAP-18/LL-37 in vitro in several serotypes inducing keratoconjunctivitis.
Methods: :
A549 cells were used for viral cell culture, and adenovirus serotypes 3, 4, 8, 19 and 37 were used. After calculating CC50 (50% cytotoxic concentration) of NCT by MTS (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) method, HAdV was cultured with hCAP-18 for seven days, and extracted adenoviral DNA was quantitatively measured by real-time PCR.
Results: :
EC50 (50% effective concentration) obtained by real-time PCR of hCAP-18 ranged between 118 and 270 µM. hCAP-18 showed an inhibitory effect against adenoviral proliferation in serotypes belonging to species B and D in a dose dependent manner. However, it was eneffective against type 4. hCAP-18/LL-37 was more effective for HAdV D species than B species.
Conclusions: :
hCAP-18/LL-37 has inhibitory activity against HAdV types 3, 8, 19, 37 which induce keratoconjunctivitis. Our results indicate that hCAP-18/LL-37 may be possible candidate as eye drop for HAdV keratoconjunctivitis
Keywords: antiviral drugs • adenovirus • conjunctivitis