Ebola is spread through contact with blood or body fluids of an infected person, and has killed several hundred people in each of several outbreaks in the mid-1970s.
Progress vaccine discovery was made by eneliti Charles Arntzen, of the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University, with colleagues from the University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix, and from the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD.
The results of their study have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The study has a sophisticated approach, namely the use of tobacco plants.
These plants produce a vaccine Ebola is basically a blueprint of DNA in conjunction with a special bacteria that are developed and incorporated into plant leaves.
The approach is radically different from traditional vaccines, such as those used against the flu virus, which is generally planted and cultured with animal cells, eggs, or fungi.
One obstacle in the study is that Ebola outbreaks are rare, making it difficult to determine the pattern of infection. Although quite rare, but Ebola can be dangerous and came up with the unexpected. That is why Ebola into a deadly disease, and make all kinds of clinical trials is rather difficult.
There are some promising possibilities, and there are some good results. This is demonstrated by testing in animals that showed acceptable levels of protection against viruses, but practical considerations make it difficult.
"All candidate vaccines that have been genetically modified with a live virus," says Arntzen.
The problems of testing and production can be further compounded, because the dangerous nature of the disease. Experiments should be conducted by a highly skilled researchers with appropriate facilities provided and operated by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute in Maryland. The test vaccine was conducted in living mice.
Vaccines are made Arntzen is at least equivalent to other experimental vaccines derived from animal sources. The survival rate reached 80 percent in mice injected with the Ebola vaccine.
In addition, cultivation techniques using tobacco plants does not only mean big cost savings in production, partly because of the ease of purification of the vaccine from vegetable matter than animal matter. But also because the product has good potential and can be stored in a refrigerator. Ease of storage one of the most important requirements of the vaccine.
The vaccine is also using a different adjuvant, which is an additive that increases the potency of the vaccine. The FDA typically approves Alum (aluminum hydroxide), but during tests in Maryland, the survival rate of mice did not show any improvement. In contrast, Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonist-called PIC is given by the Ebola immune complexes (EIC).
EIC is basically an aggregate that is created by combining the major surface protein, known as the GP1 of Ebola virus with monoclonal antibodies that are tailored to bind GP1.
"Because PIC TLR agonists act to mimic an inflammatory reaction, and it can strengthen the immune response, without causing tissue damage. In immunology, this means having something that is much easier to be recognized by the immune system," Arntzen said as quoted by MedicalNewsToday, Wednesday (12/07/2011).
Ebola has a class of viruses called the Filoviridae. EIC platform may provide a carrier to create vaccines against other viruses in this class.
Direct purification protocols may also be useful in the case of other pathogens, including hepatitis C, or scarlet fever, where the extraction of glycoproteins have so far been difficult to do. The study has prompted the creation of a new vaccine that is promising.
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