Antiviral effects of baicalin combined with peramivir against pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus in vitro and in vivo

Aim To evaluate antiviral effects of the combination of baicalin and peramivir on pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus in vitro and in vivo.Methods The in vitro antiviral efficacies of baicalin combined with peramivir against influenza A/Guangzhou/03/2009(H1N1) virus in MDCK cells were evaluated by detecting the virus yield in cell culture supernatants.In in vivo experiments,the survival rate and mean weight change of BALB/c mice infected with H1N1 virus were used as indexes to evaluate the effect of the combination of intragastric baicalin and intramuscular peramivir.MacSynergy Ⅱ was applied to analyze the interaction of baicalin and peramivir in vitro and in vivo.Results The net effect across the entire surface of the combination of baicalin and peramivir against H1N1 virus in vitro was a volume of 3.2 at a 95% confidence limit,which indicated an additive effect.The treatment of baicalin plus peramivir significantly improved survival rates and inhibited weight drop of mice infected with H1N1 virus,when compared with monotherapies.The synergic volumes of the combination of baicalin and peramivir based upon the mouse survival data and mean weight change were 69.0 and 105.2,respectively.Conclusion The combination of baicalin and peramivir exhibited a higher efficacy against influenza H1N1 virus infection than used alone,which suggested a potential clinical value of the combination of the two agents.