AUTHOR=Orabi Ahmed , Hussein Ashraf , Saleh Ayman A. , Megahed Ayman M. , Metwally Mohamed , Moeini Hassan , Metwally Aya Sh. 

TITLE=Therapeutic efficacy of n-Docosanol against velogenic Newcastle disease virus infection in domestic chickens

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1049037

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.1049037

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>The control of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection depends solely on vaccination which in most cases is not sufficient to restrain the consequences of such a highly evolving viral disease. Finding out substances for preparing an efficient anti-ND drug would be of high value. <italic>n</italic>-Docosanol is a saturated fatty alcohol with an inhibitory effect against many enveloped viruses. In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic effect of <italic>n</italic>-docosanol on NDV infection and shedding in chickens.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Chickens infected with a highly virulent NDV were treated with low to high concentrations of <italic>n</italic>-docosanol (20, 40, and 60 mg/kg body weight) for 4-successive days, once they showed the disease symptoms. Survival and curative rates, virus load, histopathological scoring, and virus shedding were defined.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Symptoms development was found to discontinue 24–72 hours post-treatment. Survival rate in the NDV-infected chickens raised 37.4–53.2% after the treatment. <italic>n</italic>-Docosanol treatment was also found to significantly reduce virus load in the digestive (26.2–33.9%), respiratory (38.3–63%), nervous (26.7–51.1%), and lymphatic (16.4–29.1%) tissues. Histopathological scoring of NDV lesions revealed prominent rescue effects on the histology of different tissues. Importantly, <italic>n</italic>-docosanol treatment significantly reduced virus shedding in oropharyngeal discharge and feces thereby allowing the restriction of NDV spread.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Our findings suggest <italic>n</italic>-docosanol as a promising remedy in the control strategy of Newcastle disease in the poultry industry.</p></sec>