Antiviral Agents to Influenza Virus 2025

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Immunology, Vaccines, and Antivirals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 2336

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing, China
Interests: anti-infective drugs (design and synthesis of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs and drug-resistant tuberculosis drugs); pharmaceutical engineering (continuous manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing)
State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
Interests: baculoviruses; bunayviruses; coronaviruses; viral envelope fusion protein-mediated entry mechanism; virus infection and pathogenesis mechanism; antiviral drug discovery and the action of drugs

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Of all the major pandemics in human history including pox, coronaviruses, arboviruses, and other respiratory viruses, influenza is the most frequent re-occurring pathogen. In the post-COVID era, researchers are highly concerned with the re-emergence of influenza virus that keeps reassorting and jumping between human, avian and other mammals. Although different generations of anti-influenza drugs are approved to treat influenza infections, including adamantanes, neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs), nucleoside analogues, and endonuclease inhibitors, drug resistance has emerged and spread rapidly. The US FDA is not recommending the use of adamantanes to treat seasonal influenza due to the wide spread of adamantane-resistant mutants. Resistance mutations of NAIs, such as R292K and E119V, are increasingly common in recent outbreaks. The baloxavir resistance mutation I38T is also found in H3N2 strains, which was surprising, since baloxavir is considered as one of the next-generation anti-influenza drugs. In view of the rapid emergence of drug-resistant strains against the current first-line or even next-generation influenza drugs, it is of high importance to accelerate drug innovations and novel strategies to combat influenza virus drug resistance.

Prof. Dr. Wu Zhong
Dr. Manli Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Viruses is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • influenza
  • antiviral drug
  • drug resistance
  • antiviral drug target

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 6026 KiB  
Article
Anthraquinone-2-Carboxylic Acid Is a Potential Antiviral Candidate Against Influenza Viruses In Vitro and In Vivo
by Sichen Ren, Yan Luo, Huimin Tao, Ping Wang, Song Li and Jingjing Yang
Viruses 2025, 17(5), 628; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17050628 (registering DOI) - 27 Apr 2025
Viewed by 183
Abstract
Seasonal outbreaks and occasional pandemics triggered by influenza viruses annually impose considerable burdens on public health and finances. The continual evolution of viral strains with drug resistance emphasizes the urgency of discovering novel agents for influenza viruses. This study investigated a set of [...] Read more.
Seasonal outbreaks and occasional pandemics triggered by influenza viruses annually impose considerable burdens on public health and finances. The continual evolution of viral strains with drug resistance emphasizes the urgency of discovering novel agents for influenza viruses. This study investigated a set of innovative substances derived from Morinda officinalis with antiviral potential against influenza virus strains. The top candidate, anthraquinone-2-carboxylic acid (A2CA), presented antiviral activity against diverse influenza virus strains, including those resistant to oseltamivir. In an influenza mouse model, the pre-administration of A2CA dose-dependently ameliorated influenza A virus (IAV)-mediated weight loss as well as protected mice from a lethal IAV infection. In addition, lung injury and cytokine dysregulation were mitigated. Further investigation revealed that IAV-induced activation of the RIG-I/STAT1 signaling pathway did not occur after A2CA treatment. A time-of-addition assay revealed that A2CA targeted the final phase of intracellular replication, which was further determined by molecular docking between A2CA and the IAV RdRp protein. Finally, transcriptome analysis revealed that the TP53TG3C, CFAP57 and SNX30-DT genes may be involved in the antiviral effects of A2CA. These results play a part in achieving a thorough comprehension of the capacity of A2CA to inhibit influenza virus infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antiviral Agents to Influenza Virus 2025)
Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 3082 KiB  
Article
The Synergistic Effect of Baloxavir and Neuraminidase Inhibitors against Influenza Viruses In Vitro
by Xiaojia Guo, Lei Zhao, Wei Li, Ruiyuan Cao and Wu Zhong
Viruses 2024, 16(9), 1467; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16091467 - 14 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1657
Abstract
Influenza viruses remain a major threat to human health. Four classes of drugs have been approved for the prevention and treatment of influenza infections. Oseltamivir, a neuraminidase inhibitor, is a first-line anti-influenza drug, and baloxavir is part of the newest generation of anti-influenza [...] Read more.
Influenza viruses remain a major threat to human health. Four classes of drugs have been approved for the prevention and treatment of influenza infections. Oseltamivir, a neuraminidase inhibitor, is a first-line anti-influenza drug, and baloxavir is part of the newest generation of anti-influenza drugs that targets the viral polymerase. The emergence of drug resistance has reduced the efficacy of established antiviral drugs. Combination therapy is one of the options for controlling drug resistance and enhancing therapeutical efficacies. Here, we evaluate the antiviral effects of baloxavir combined with neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) against wild-type influenza viruses, as well as influenza viruses with drug-resistance mutations. The combination of baloxavir with NAIs led to significant synergistic effects; however, the combination of baloxavir with laninamivir failed to result in a synergistic effect on influenza B viruses. Considering the rapid emergence of drug resistance to baloxavir, we believe that these results will be beneficial for combined drug use against influenza. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antiviral Agents to Influenza Virus 2025)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop