bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.13.201806; this version posted July 15, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 Peramivir, an anti-influenza virus drug, exhibits potential anti-cytokine storm effects 2 Chen-xi Zhang1, Ye Tu2, De-pei Kong1, Yinghua-Li1, Da-gui Chen1, Wan-nian Zhang3,4, Li Su1*, Chun-lin Zhuang3,4*, Zhi-bin Wang3* 3 1Institute of Translational Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China. 4 2Department of Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University, 200120 Shanghai, China 5 3School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, 200433 Shanghai, China 6 4School of Pharmacy, Ningxia Medical University, 750004 Yinchuan, China 7 These authors contributed equally: Chen-xi Zhang(
[email protected]) and Ye Tu(
[email protected]) 8 Correspondence: Li Su (
[email protected]), Chun-lin Zhuang (
[email protected]) or Zhi-bin Wang (
[email protected]) 9 10 Running title: Peramivir as a potential anti-cytokine storm agent 11 12 Abstract Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus -2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been 13 declared a public health emergency of international concerns. Cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) is a critical clinical symptom of severe 14 COVID-19 patients, and the macrophage is recognized as the direct host cell of SARS-CoV-2 and potential drivers of CSS. In the present study, 15 peramivir was identified to reduce TNF-α by partly intervention of NF-κB activity in LPS-induced macrophage model.