ArticleScientific reports2017
Determining Ribavirin's mechanism of action against Lassa virus infection.
Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ribavirin for treating Lassa fever: A systematic review of pre-clinical studies and implications for human dosing.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Lassa Virus-A Persistent and Evolving Threat.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Review
- Meeting report: 38th international conference on antiviral research in Las Vegas, United States of America, March 17-21, 2025.Antiviral research · 2025Article
- Article
- Puumala orthohantavirus: prevalence, biology, disease, animal models and recent advances in therapeutics development and structural biology.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- U-73122, a phospholipase C inhibitor, impairs lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus virion infectivity.The Journal of general virology · 2024Article
- A novel BSL-2 Lassa virus reverse genetics system modelling the complete viral life cycle.Emerging microbes & infections · 2024Article
- Emerging and reemerging infectious diseases: global trends and new strategies for their prevention and control.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2024Review
- Simultaneous screening for selective SARS-CoV-2, Lassa, and Machupo virus entry inhibitors.SLAS discovery : advancing life sciences R & D · 2024Article
- An mRNA-LNP-based Lassa virus vaccine induces protective immunity in mice.Journal of virology · 2024Article
- Treatment of highly virulent mammarenavirus infections-status quo and future directions.Expert opinion on drug discovery · 2024Review
- Pharmacokinetics of Ribavirin in the Treatment of Lassa Fever: An Observational Clinical Study at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Nigeria.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2023Observational
- Molecular Engineering of a Mammarenavirus with Unbreachable Attenuation.Journal of virology · 2023Article
- Combating Lassa Fever in West African Sub-Region: Progress, Challenges, and Future Perspectives.Viruses · 2023Review
- Lassa antiviral LHF-535 protects guinea pigs from lethal challenge.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Potential and action mechanism of favipiravir as an antiviral against Junin virus.PLoS pathogens · 2022Article
- Chapare Hemorrhagic Fever and Virus Detection in Rodents in Bolivia in 2019.The New England journal of medicine · 2022Article
- A fuzzy logic-based computational method for the repurposing of drugs against COVID-19.BioImpacts : BI · 2022Article
- The Effects of β-Pinene, a Pine Needle Oil Monoterpene, on Adenovirus Type 3.Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Ribavirin is a broad spectrum antiviral which inhibits Lassa virus (LASV) replication in vitro but exhibits a minor effect on viremia in vivo. However, ribavirin significantly improves the disease outcome when administered in combination with sub-optimal doses of favipiravir, a strong antiviral drug. The mechanisms explaining these conflicting findings have not been determined, so far. Here, we used an interdisciplinary approach combining mathematical models and experimental data in LASV-infected mice that were treated with ribavirin alone or in combination with the drug favipiravir to explore different putative mechanisms of action for ribavirin. We test four different hypotheses that have been previously suggested for ribavirin's mode of action: (i) acting as a mutagen, thereby limiting the infectivity of new virions; (ii) reducing viremia by impairing viral production; (iii) modulating cell damage, i.e., by reducing inflammation, and (iv) enhancing antiviral immunity. Our analysis indicates that enhancement of antiviral immunity, as well as effects on viral production or transmission are unlikely to be ribavirin's main mechanism mediating its antiviral effectiveness against LASV infection. Instead, the modeled viral kinetics suggest that the main mode of action of ribavirin is to protect infected cells from dying, possibly reducing the inflammatory response.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.