Key result
Copper-based drugs improve survival and reduce IBV N-gene levels vs controls in infected chicks.
Why the study?
Infectious bronchitis virus poses a major threat to the poultry industry, and copper ions are known to have antiviral properties, prompting evaluation of copper-based pharmaceuticals against IBV.
Do copper-based drugs inhibit infectious bronchitis virus in vitro and in vivo?
Do copper-based drugs inhibit infectious bronchitis virus in vitro and in vivo?
Copper-based drugs demonstrate robust antiviral effects against infectious bronchitis virus both in vitro and in vivo.
Should not yet change IBV management in poultry; extends preclinical evidence but remains hypothesis-generating.
Infectious bronchitis (IB) is an acute respiratory disease caused by the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), spreads rapidly and manifests with diverse clinical signs, posing a major significant to the poultry industry. Metal ions such as copper are known to possess notable antiviral properties. Therefore, we evaluated the potential efficacy of copper-based pharmaceuticals against IBV. Results demonstrated that the copper-based drugs significantly protected DF-1 cells from IBV-M41 infection, markedly increasing cell activity and reducing IBV N-gene level. Furthermore, these drugs enhanced antiviral immunity and exhibited anti-apoptotic activity in vitro. In addition, these drugs increased the survival rates of infected chicken embryos and chicks while reducing developmental disruptions, thereby demonstrating robust antiviral effects. Pathological examinations revealed that lesions in the lungs, trachea, kidneys, spleen and other organs of treated groups improved to varying degrees, with a down-regulation of IBV N-gene level in chicks. Our study showed that the copper-based drugs exhibited anti-IBV-M41 both in vitro and in vivo, which provides a theoretical and experimental basis for exploring the anti-coronaviral effects of metal-based drug candidates.
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Lin et al. (2025) studied this question. Copper-based drugs significantly improved survival rates and reduced IBV N-gene levels in infected chicken embryos and chicks compared to controls.
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