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Genetic consequences of effective and suboptimal dosing with mutagenic drugs in a hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Illingworth, Christopher JR; Guerra-Assuncao, Jose A; Gregg, Samuel; Charles, Oscar; Pang, Juanita; Roy, Sunando; Abdelnabi, Rana; ... Breuer, Judith; + view all (2024) Genetic consequences of effective and suboptimal dosing with mutagenic drugs in a hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Virus Evolution , 10 (1) , Article veae001. 10.1093/ve/veae001. Green open access

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Abstract

Mutagenic antiviral drugs have shown promise against multiple viruses, but concerns have been raised about whether their use might promote the emergence of new and harmful viral variants. Recently, genetic signatures associated with molnupiravir use have been identified in the global SARS-COV-2 population. Here, we examine the consequences of using favipiravir and molnupiravir to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection in a hamster model, comparing viral genome sequence data collected from (1) untreated hamsters, and (2) from hamsters receiving effective and suboptimal doses of treatment. We identify a broadly linear relationship between drug dose and the extent of variation in treated viral populations, with a high proportion of this variation being composed of variants at frequencies of less than 1 per cent, below typical thresholds for variant calling. Treatment with an effective dose of antiviral drug was associated with a gain of between 7 and 10 variants per viral genome relative to drug-free controls: even after a short period of treatment a population founded by a transmitted virus could contain multiple sequence differences to that of the original host. Treatment with a suboptimal dose of drug showed intermediate gains of variants. No dose-dependent signal was identified in the numbers of single-nucleotide variants reaching frequencies in excess of 5 per cent. We did not find evidence to support the emergence of drug resistance or of novel immune phenotypes. Our study suggests that where onward transmission occurs, a short period of treatment with mutagenic drugs may be sufficient to generate a significant increase in the number of viral variants transmitted.

Type: Article
Title: Genetic consequences of effective and suboptimal dosing with mutagenic drugs in a hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1093/ve/veae001
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ve/veae001
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, favipiravir, molnupiravir, mutagenesis
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Genetics and Genomic Medicine Dept
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Infection, Immunity and Inflammation Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10187697
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