Molnupiravir Inhibits Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Infection In Vitro

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a swine coronavirus that is highly infectious and prone to variation. Vaccines derived from traditional PEDV strains provide less protection against PEDV-variant strains. Furthermore; there is a complex diversity of sequences among various PEDV-variant strains. Therefore; there is an urgent need to develop alternative antiviral strategies to defend against PEDV. Molnupiravir is a nucleotide analogue that could replace natural nucleosides to restrain viral RNA replication. Our study provided evidence for the dose-dependent inhibition of PEDV replication by molnupiravir in Vero cells. Molnupiravir also exhibited a strong inhibitory effect on viral RNA and protein production. Our results demonstrated that molnupiravir inhibits PEDV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) activity and induces a high frequency of mutations in the PEDV genome. Further studies revealed that molnupiravir can reverse changes in the transcriptome caused by viral infection. In conclusion, our results indicated that molnupiravir has the potential to be an effective treatment for PEDV infection.

Automated summary

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly infectious and variable swine coronavirus. Traditional PEDV strain-derived vaccines provide limited protection against PEDV-variant strains due to their complex sequence diversity. Therefore, alternative antiviral strategies are urgently needed. Molnupiravir, a nucleotide analogue, can effectively inhibit PEDV replication, viral RNA and protein production, and induce mutations in the PEDV genome. Our study also showed that molnupiravir can reverse transcriptomic changes caused by viral infection, suggesting its potential as an effective treatment for PEDV infection.