Potential application of silver nanoparticles to control the infectivity of Rift Valley fever virus in vitro and in vivo

In this work we have tested the potential antiviral activity of silver nanoparticles formulated as Argovit™ against Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV). The antiviral activity of Argovit was tested on Vero cell cultures and in type-I interferon receptor deficient mice (IFNAR −/− mice) by two different approaches: (i) different dilutions of Argovit were added to previously infected cells or administrated to animals infected with a lethal dose of virus; (ii) virus was pre-incubated with different dilutions of Argovit before inoculation in mice or cells. Though the ability of silver nanoparticles to control an ongoing RVFV infection in the conditions tested was limited, the incubation of virus with Argovit before the infection led to a reduction of the infectivity titers both in vitro and in vivo. These results reveal the potential application of silver nanoparticles to control the infectivity of RVFV, which is an important zoonotic pathogen.

The manuscript describes the capacity of silver nanoparticles formulated as Argovit® to reduce the infectivity of RVFV both in cultured cells and in animal models. The results derived from this work reveal the potential application of silver nanoparticles to control the infectivity of an emerging zoonotic pathogen considered also as a potential bioterrorist agent such as RVFV.Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (51 K)Download as PowerPoint slide