Antiviral effect of amiloride on replication of foot and mouth disease virus in cell culture.

Recently, amiloride was shown to potently suppress Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) replication. In the current study, we investigated whether amiloride could also exhibit antiviral activity against foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), which belongs to the same family (Picornaviridae) as CVB3. We found that amiloride exerted antiviral activity in a dose-dependent manner against two strains of FMDV in IBRS-2 cells, with slight cytotoxicity at 1000 μM. Besides, amiloride did not inhibit the attachment and entry of FMDV in IBRS-2 cells, but prevented early viral replication. These data implied that amiloride could be a promising candidate for further research as a potential antiviral drug against FMDV infection.