Foot and Mouth is an infectious disease caused by FMD Virus. The disease is major problem for beef and dairy industries due to high spreading capacity and genetic diversity of virus. Immunization is the only way to limit and eradicate the disease where the disease is endemic. However, vaccination is constrained by lack of or incomplete protection. Therefore, an alternative application of antiviral agents for inhibition of the FMD virus (FMDV) is needed. This study was conducted to investigate the antiviral potential of Renessans (Iodine complex) against FMDV type O, A and Asia-1 serotypes. The MTT assay was carried on BHK-21 cell line to assess the Cytotoxicity of Renessans. Viral inhibition assays using the ten non-cytotoxic concentrations (serial dilution)(0.133, 0.0668, 0.0334, 0.0167, 0.0083, 0.0041, 0.0020, 0.001, 0.0005, and 0.00025mg/ml) of Renessans (Iodine complex) were performed to check the antiviral potential of Renessans on different stages of viral infection. At these concentrations (0.133, 0.0668, 0.0334, 0.0167, 0.0083, 0.0041, 0.0020, 0.001, 0.0005, and 0.00025mg/ml) of Renessans the virus titer was reduced significantly (p < 0.001) by three log in all three strains of viruses at non-toxic concentrations. The virus titer in strain O control was 10^6.3 Tissue Culture Infective Dose 50 (TCID50)/mL and was reduced to 10^1.89 TCID50/mL at highest non-toxic concentration (i.e 0.133mg/ml) and gradually titer increases as drug serially diluted. In the case of strain Asia-1, the virus titer was reduced from (control) 10^5.8 TCID50/mL to 10^1.42 TCID50/mL at highest non-toxic concentration (i.e 0.133mg/ml) and gradually titer increases as drug serially diluted. The titer of strain A was reduced from 10^5.5 TCID50/mL to 10^1.51 TCID50/mL at highest non-toxic concentration (i.e 0.133mg/ml) and gradually titer increases as drug serially diluted. Moreover, the virus titer was reduced more at the late replication & assembly stages as compared to attachment and entry stages. This study showed the in vitro anti-FMDV potential of Renessans (Iodine Complex) for the first time and predicted its potential use against FMDV infections.

Index Terms- FMD, FMDV, TCID50, Renessans (Iodine complex), BHK-21 cell line