Increased Survival after Gemfibrozil Treatment of Severe Mouse Influenza

School of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, John Curtin School of Medical Research, and Statistical Consulting Unit, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: ian.clark{at}anu.edu.au.

	Abstract

Gemfibrozil, an agent that inhibits production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in addition to its clinically useful lipid-lowering activity, increased survival in BALB/c mice that were already ill from infection by influenza virus A/Japan/305/57 (H2N2). Gemfibrozil was administered intraperitoneally once daily from days 4 to 10 after intranasal exposure to the virus. Survival increased from 26% in vehicle-treated mice (n=50) to 52% in mice administered 60 mg/kg/day gemfibrozil (n=46) (p=0.0026). If this principle translates across to patients, a drug already approved for human use, albeit by a different route for another purpose, might be relatively fast to adapt for use against influenza disease, conceivably including human infection by a derivative of the avian H5N1 strain.