Effective Interferon Lambda Treatment Regimen To Control Lethal MERS-CoV Infection in Mice
Ronald Dijkman, Abhishek Kumar Verma, Muneeswaran Selvaraj, Roshan Ghimire, Hans Henrik Gad, Rune Hartmann, Sunil More, Stanley Perlman, Volker Thiel, Rudragouda Channappanavar
Abstract
Effective antiviral agents are urgently required to prevent and treat individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging viral infections. The COVID-19 pandemic has catapulted our efforts to identify, develop, and evaluate several antiviral agents. However, a narrow therapeutic window has limited the protective efficacy of several broad-spectrum and CoV-specific antivirals. IFN-λ is an antiviral agent of interest due to its ability to induce a robust endogenous antiviral state and low levels of inflammation. Here, we evaluated the protective efficacy and effective treatment regimen of IFN-λ in mice infected with a lethal dose of MERS-CoV. We show that while prophylactic and early therapeutic IFN-λ administration is protective, delayed treatment is detrimental. Notably, a combination of prophylactic and delayed therapeutic administration of IFN-λ protected mice from severe MERS. Our results highlight the prophylactic and therapeutic use of IFN-λ against lethal hCoV and likely other viral lung infections.