Share:
Plants used for the production of antibodies against the Marburg virus
With the help of tobacco plants, scientists have successfully developed an active ingredient against Marburg viruses and Ravn viruses. The new compound can still kill viruses efficiently five days after infection, say scientists around Professor Thomas Geisbert of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).
Infections with the Marburg virus are extremely rare, but extremely dangerous. Few sufferers survive an infection. The Marburg viruses as well as the Ravn viruses come from the same family as the Ebola viruses. Even smaller outbreaks of these so-called filoviruses can result in numerous deaths. For a long time, medical professionals are already searching for possible remedies for the viruses. Here, the international research team headed by Professor Thomas Geisbert has apparently achieved a breakthrough with an active ingredient that was produced in genetically modified plants. The researchers published their results in the journal "Science Translational Medicine".
Scientists use genetically modified tobacco plants to produce harmful substances against Marburg viruses and Ravn viruses. (Image: vski / fotolia.com) Production of human antibodies with the help of plants
The new drug, which was produced in genetically modified plants, can still successfully kill the Marburg virus and Ravn virus five days after the infection has already occurred, the researchers report. In addition to US scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch and Vanderbilt University, experts from the Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Boku) Vienna also participated in the current study. In Vienna, the researchers led by Herta Steinkellner at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences already have some experience with the production of human antibodies in genetically modified tobacco plants.
Marburg virus infections are usually fatal
So far, there are no vaccines or drugs against Marburg and Ravn viruses, which are approved for use in humans, explain the researchers. The consequences of an infection with these two filoviruses, which originate from the same virus family as Ebola viruses, are therefore often fatal. "The average death rate of Marburg virus infections since the first known outbreak in 1967 is 80 percent," reports the UTMB. Most recently, in the wake of the Ebola virus epidemic from 2013 to 2016, the alarming lack of prevention or treatment options for filoviruses has become apparent.
Monoclonal antibodies the key
According to the researchers, Marburg and Ravn viruses are very virulent and cause severe and frequently fatal diseases in humans. Although drugs against infections are so far in short supply, but the treatment with so-called monoclonal antibodies offer new therapeutic approaches. Their use has already been tested in autoimmune diseases and cancer, for example. In the current study, the researchers were able to show that the monoclonal antibody MR191-N in rhesus monkeys offers a survival advantage of up to 100 percent in the case of infection with Marburg or Ravn viruses.
100% protection achieved
The drug has also successfully eliminated the virus, if the treatment was up to five days after infection, the researchers write. This supports the assumption that monoclonal antibodies have a therapeutic benefit in advanced stages of the disease with highly virulent pathogens, emphasize Prof. Geisbert and Kolegen. "We have demonstrated that a monoclonal antibody is able to protect up to 100 percent of Marburg or Ravn virus-infected non-human primates when antibody treatment occurs up to five days after exposure to a lethal amount of virus," according to Prof. Geisbert. "The level of protection observed with this antibody is very impressive. We plan to test this product for human safety as soon as possible, "adds Larry Zeitlin, President of Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., which also participated in the study. (Fp)