Ginsenoside Rg3 inhibits grass carp reovirus replication in grass carp ovarian epithelial cells

Ginseng exhibits multiple medicinal properties, including the improvement of immune function and enhancing disease resistance. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of ginsenoside Rg3 on grass carp reovirus (GCRV) infection of grass carp ovarian (CO) epithelial cells, in order to provide a baseline framework for future high-efficacy antiviral drug screening investigations. Ginsenoside Rg3 was added to GCRV-infected CO cells, and cells were cultured at 27 °C before cell proliferation was measured by MTT assays. Label-free real-time cellular analysis (RTCA) after 72 h of experimentation demonstrated that 100 μg/mL ginsenoside Rg3 treatment had the highest inhibitory effect on GCRV (among 1,10,100 μg/mL treatments). We then measured the capacity for cellular antioxidant ability. Cells treated with 1,10,100 μg/mL ginsenoside Rg3 exhibited increases in Total Antioxidant Capacity activity relative to controls, respectively. Furthermore, Antioxidant assay and reverse transcript quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) showed that ginsenoside Rg3 were efficient to restrain the replication of GCRV in CO cells. Expression analysis of immune-related genes via RT-qPCR showed that treatment with ginsenoside Rg3 promoted expression of IRF-3 and IRF-7 increases, respectively. Moreover, expression of IFN-1 was induced, which then inhibition the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). In conclusion, we demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg3 promotes CO cell proliferation, inhibits GCRV activity, promotes CO cell immune activities, and thereby enhances the resistance of CO to GCRV infection. •GCRV infection lead to high morbidity and mortality in fish.•Ginsenosides Rg3 were first used to study the effects on GCRV -infected CO cells.•Ginsenosides Rg3 increase the Total Antioxidant Capacity activity of GCRV -infected CO cells.•Ginsenoside Rg3 promoted expression of IRF-3 , IRF-7 and IFN-1.