Disulfiram attenuates MCMV-Induced pneumonia by inhibition of NF-κB/NLRP3 in mice

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals is associated with damaging hyper inflammation and leads to high morbidity and mortality. It is urgently needed to develop new strategies to treat CMV-induced pneumonia. As disulfiram (DSF) reportedly inhibits inflammatory responses in different disease models, its therapeutic effects in CMV-induced pneumonia are proposed. In this study, we demonstrated that DSF effectively attenuated pulmonary injury and improved survival in murine CMV (MCMV) pneumonia model. DSF treatment inhibited lung inflammatory responses, e.g. reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines, upregulating antiinflammatory cytokine, and lowering the accumulation of leukocytes in the lung. Similar to the in vivo results, DSF attenuated inflammatory responses and modulated NF-KB/NLRP3 inflammasome activation in MCMVinfected BMDMs. Furthermore, DSF reduced pulmonary fibrosis and viral loads in MCMV pneumonia mice and BMDMs. The mechanism of anti-inflammatory effects of DSF may due to its regulating NF-KB signaling and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Collectively, our results suggest that DSF-mediated anti-hyperinflammatory effects have potentials for therapy of human CMV pneumonia.

Automated summary

This study demonstrated that treatment with disulfiram (DSF) effectively attenuated pulmonary injury and improved survival in a murine CMV pneumonia model. The anti-inflammatory effects of DSF may be attributed to its regulation of NF-KB signaling and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. DSF has potential as a therapy for human CMV pneumonia.