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EBOLA VERSUS HIV PHOTO CREDIT:
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Scientists have advanced treatment options
for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and the
Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV).
They have developed a new medication
that in one dose successfully protected
nonhuman primates against a lethal
infection of all strains of the deadly Ebola
virus. The findings are now available in Cell
Host & Microbe.
Dr. Thomas Geisbert, a world-renowned
Ebola researcher at The University of
Texas Medical Branch, said that previous
therapeutics typically were of the “one bug,
one drug” variety. But because of the
unpredictable nature and variety of the
Ebola virus, scientists have been seeking a
way to protect against different strains of
the virus.
“Our experimental drug can protect against
all forms of Ebola known to harm people,
suggesting that it will continue to protect
people if the Ebola viruses evolve over
time,” said Geisbert, who is a professor of
microbiology and immunology at UTMB.
The team of scientists demonstrated that a
two-antibody cocktail called MBP134 could
fully protect nonhuman primates and
ferrets against lethal Ebola virus infections
of caused by the Bundibugyo and Sudan
strain as well as the deadliest Zaire strain
that caused the 2013-16 epidemic in West
Africa and the current outbreak in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We were able to protect the nonhuman
primates against all the Ebola species
plaguing people at a single low dose,” said
Larry Zeitlin, president of Mapp
Biopharmaceutical Inc. “Further studies
exploring even lower doses could open the
door to treatment via auto-injectors like the
kind used for allergic reactions. The ability
to quickly and efficiently provide protection
against all Ebola viruses in a single dose
would reduce the burden on health care
workers in the field during outbreaks,
especially in regions that have a less-
developed infrastructure.”
A new high-throughput, miniature, portable
sequencing technique has been developed
in recent years, for human and animal
health purposes. It uses mobile laboratories
to diagnose viruses such as Ebola or Zika
almost instantly, in the field. Diagnosis is
both quick and early, which avoids the
need to transfer contaminated samples.
Mobile, instant diagnosis of plant viruses,
to back up epidemiosurveillance networks
As with human virology, the fact that the
technique has now been validated in a
plant virology laboratory paves the way for
real-time, mobile detection of chronic,
seasonal or emerging plant viruses, even in
isolated areas. By shortening the time that
elapses between sampling and diagnosis,
the technology will help
epidemiosurveillance networks detect
harmful organisms at an earlier stage.
Also, scientists have developed a
combination of monoclonal antibodies that
protected animals from all three Ebola
viruses that cause human disease. The
antibody ‘cocktail,’ called MBP134, is the
first experimental treatment to protect
monkeys against Ebola virus (formerly
known as Ebola Zaire), as well as Sudan
virus and Bundibugyo virus, and could lead
to a broadly effective therapeutic.
Scientists from academia, industry, and
government have developed a combination
of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that
protected animals from all three Ebola
viruses known to cause human disease.
Their work is described in two companion
studies published online in the journal Cell
Host & Microbe.
The mAb “cocktail,” called MBP134, is the
first experimental treatment to protect
monkeys against Ebola virus (formerly
known as Ebola Zaire), as well as Sudan
virus and Bundibugyo virus, and could lead
to a broadly effective therapeutic,
according to the authors.
Over 20 Ebola virus outbreaks have
occurred since the first outbreak was
documented in 1976 in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, or DRC (formerly called
Zaire). The 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in
Western Africa — the largest outbreak to
date — sickened more than 28,000 people
and caused more than 11,000 deaths. An
ongoing outbreak in the eastern Kivu region
of DRC is already the second largest on
record, according to the World Health
Organization.
No Ebola virus medical countermeasures
have been approved by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration. An experimental
vaccine and several experimental
therapeutics — including three based on
mAbs — are being studied in the field.
Despite their promise, all target only a
single Ebola virus (Zaire) and are
ineffective against the other two.
“Developing a single treatment that could
potentially be used for patients suffering
from all the different types of Ebola viruses
is an enormous advancement in the field,”
commented John M. Dye, Ph.D. of the U.S.
Army Medical Research Institute of
Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), one of the
authors.
Citing growing evidence of the value of
monoclonal antibodies for treating even the
most virulent infections, Dye added, “This
discovery has implications not only for the
treatment of Sudan and Bundibugyo
viruses, but for newly emerging Ebola
viruses as well.”
The two mAbs that make up MBP134 were
previously discovered by the same
research team in the blood of a human
survivor of the 2013-2016 outbreak in
Western Africa and were shown to target
key sites of vulnerability shared by Ebola
viruses.
In the first study, a team led by Kartik
Chandran, Ph.D., of the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine (Einstein) engineered
one of the mAbs to improve its activity
against Sudan virus. They demonstrated
that this enhanced mAb could work
especially well with the second naturally
occurring mAb to block infection by all
three viruses and protect guinea pigs
against both Ebola virus and Sudan virus.
Additional modification of both mAbs to
harness the power of “natural killer”
immune cells enhanced MBP134’s broad
protective efficacy in guinea pigs even
further.
In the second study, a team led by Dr.
Zachary A. Bornholdt, Ph.D., of Mapp
Biopharmaceutical Inc. (MappBio)
evaluated the MBP134 cocktail in large
animal models that mimic Ebola virus
disease in humans more closely. They
found that a single low dose of MBP134
could protect monkeys against all three
Ebola viruses associated with human
disease, even when treatment was begun
four-seven days after the animals were
infected.
Meanwhile, in recent years, an
overwhelming body of clinical evidence has
firmly established the Human Immuno-
deficiency Virus (HIV) Undetectable =
Untransmittable (U=U) concept as
scientifically sound, say officials from the
United State National Institutes of Health
(NIH). U=U means that people living with
HIV who achieve and maintain an
undetectable viral load—the amount of HIV
in the blood—by taking and adhering to
antiretroviral therapy (ART) as prescribed
cannot s*xually transmit the virus to
others.
Writing in JAMA, officials from NIH’s
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID) review the scientific
evidence underlying U=U and discuss the
implications of widespread acceptance of
the message.
In the new commentary, NIAID Director
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and colleagues
summarize results from large clinical trials
and cohort studies validating U=U. The
landmark NIH-funded HPTN 052 clinical
trial showed that no linked HIV
transmissions occurred among HIV sero-
different heteros*xual couples when the
partner living with HIV had a durably
suppressed viral load. Subsequently, the
PARTNER and Opposites Attract studies
confirmed these findings and extended
them to male-male couples.
Validation of the HIV treatment as
prevention strategy and acceptance of the
U=U concept as scientifically sound have
numerous behavioral, social and legal
implications, the NIAID officials note. U=U
can help control the HIV pandemic by
preventing HIV transmission, and it can
reduce the stigma that many people with
HIV face.
The success of U=U as an HIV prevention
method depends on achieving and
maintaining an undetectable viral load by
taking ART daily as prescribed. Numerous
factors, including lack of access to quality
health care, can make ART adherence
difficult. To enhance the overall success of
U=U, the authors emphasize the
importance of implementing programs that
help patients remain in care and address
the barriers to daily therapy.