Antiviral activity of luteolin against Japanese encephalitis virus

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a member of family Flaviviridae, is a neurotropic flavivirus that causes Japanese encephalitis (JE). JEV is one of the most important causative agents of viral encephalitis in humans, and this disease leads to high fatality rates. Although effective vaccines are available, no effective antiviral therapy for JE has been developed. Hence, identifying effective antiviral agents against JEV infection is important. In this study, we found that luteolin was an antiviral bioflavonoid with potent antiviral activity against JEV replication in A549 cells with IC50 = 4.56 μg/mL. Luteolin also showed extracellular virucidal activity on JEV. With a time-of-drug addition assay revealing that JEV replication was inhibited by luteolin after the entry stage. Overall, our results suggested that luteolin can be used to develop an antiviral drug against JEV.