Abstract
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), members of the genus Coronavirus, mainly cause acute diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration in piglets, and thus lead to serious economic losses. In this study, we investigated the effects of nicotinamide (NAM) on PEDV and PDCoV replication and found that NAM treatment significantly inhibited PEDV and PDCoV reproduction. Moreover, NAM plays an important role in replication processes. NAM primarily inhibited PEDV and PDCoV RNA and protein synthesis rather than other processes. Furthermore, we discovered that NAM treatment likely inhibits the replication of PEDV and PDCoV by downregulating the expression of transcription factors through activation of the ERK1/2/MAPK pathway. Overall, this study is the first to suggest that NAM might be not only an important antiviral factor for swine intestinal coronavirus, but also a potential candidate to be evaluated in the context of other human and animal coronaviruses.