Abstract

Chinese rice-field eel rhabdovirus (CrERV) is a serious epidemic pathogen of Chinese rice-field eel and causes severe economic losses to aquaculture. However, there are no commercial drugs presently available to control CrERV infection. Eugenol is a bioactive compound extracted from clove plants and exhibits potential antiviral activity. In the study, the antiviral activity of eugenol against CrERV was investigated in Chinese rice-field eel (Monopterus albus). Eugenol reached the highest inhibition rate of 96.6% at 40 mg/L in Chinese rice-field eel kidney cells (CrEK). Notably, eugenol exhibits antiviral activity by directly targeting CrERV and additionally confers prophylactic effects against infection via its action on CrEK cells. The results of exploring the viral invasion cycle demonstrated that eugenol primarily exerted its antiviral effect during the middle stage and late stage (12 h and 24 h) of viral infection. In addition, eugenol inhibited CrERV-induced apoptosis of CrEK cells, maintained mitochondrial membrane potential levels, maintained physiological cellular morphology and structure, and protected cells from loss of cellular morphology, formation of apoptotic vesicles, and cell fragmentation. For the in vivo study, eugenol increased the survival rate of CrERV-infected rice-field eel by 56% and 48%, in prevention experiments and treatment experiments, respectively. Concurrently, eugenol significantly reduced viral loads and induced the upregulation of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant genes, indicating its potential for immunoregulation. In summary, eugenol holds potential for both preventing and treating CrERV infections in the aquaculture context.