Saim-Mamoun A, Carbonneau J, Rhéaume C, Abed Y, Bo. Viral Fitness of Baloxavir-Resistant Recombinant Influenza B/Victoria- and B/Yamagata-like Viruses Harboring the I38T PA Change, In Vitro, Ex Vivo and in Guinea Pigs. Microorganisms. 2023 Apr 22;11(5):1095
Seasonal influenza A and B viruses may cause severe infections requiring therapeutic interventions. Baloxavir, the latest antiviral drug approved against those infections, targets the endonuclease activity encoded by the polymerase acidic (PA) protein. While appearing effective at cessation of viral shedding, baloxavir demonstrated a low barrier of resistance. Herein, we aimed to assess the impact of PA-I38T substitution, a major marker of baloxavir-resistance, on the fitness of contemporary influenza B viruses. Recombinant wild-type (WT) influenza B/Phuket/2073/13 (B/Yamagata/16/88-like) and B/Washington/02/19 (B/Victoria/2/87-like) viruses and their respective PA-I38T mutants were used to evaluate replication kinetics in vitro, using A549 and Calu3 cells, and ex vivo, using nasal human airway epithelium (HAE) cells. Infectivity was also assessed in guinea pigs. In the B/Washington/02/19 background, there were no major differences between the recombinant WT virus and its I38T mutant when viral replication kinetics were evaluated in human lung cell lines and HAE as well as in nasal washes of experimentally infected guinea pigs. By contrast, the I38T mutation moderately impacted the B/Phuket/2073/13 viral fitness. In conclusion, contemporary influenza B viruses that may acquire baloxavir-resistance through the PA-I38T substitution could retain a significant level of fitness, highlighting the importance of monitoring the emergence of such variant.
See Also:
Latest articles in those days:
- Engineered Bacillus subtilis to deliver dsRNA via extracellular vesicles against the H9N2 avian influenza virus 7 hours ago
- [preprint]Spatiotemporal dynamics and ecological risk factors of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) in Canadian wildlife: A One Health surveillance analysis 7 hours ago
- Epidemiological and Virological Characteristics of H9N2 Avian Influenza Virus in Jiangsu Province, China, 2024 18 hours ago
- Innate Pathway Selection Modulates Antibody and T-Cell Responses to Mosaic Influenza Nucleoprotein in Cattle 2 days ago
- Game Over for the Baseline: Influenza Hospitalization Patterns Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic (FluSurv-NET, 2009–2025) 2 days ago
[Go Top] [Close Window]


