New approach to cure HepC

This is probably 10yrs away but as most stuff does, looks very promising now.

By John Lauerman
     Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Scientists have devised a set of
immune proteins that, when injected into mice, can head off a
dangerous liver virus infection.
     Laboratory mice bred with human cells in their livers were
protected from the virus, hepatitis C, after injection with the
proteins, said researchers led by Mansun Law, an immunologist at
the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
     The molecules, called passive antibodies, open up new
possibilities for preventing and treating hepatitis C, which
infects about 3 percent of the world's people. Available
treatments are costly and help just half of patients, according
to the World Health Organization.
     ``There have been many obstacles to fighting hepatitis C
virus,'' said David Thomas, chief of infectious diseases at
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, in a telephone interview
today. ``This is the most genetically complex virus that causes
disease in humans.''
     Hepatitis C evades drugs and the body's immune defenses
because of its tendency to mutate genetically. Law, working with
Scripps immunologist Dennis Burton, isolated a set of antibodies
that attack a part of the virus that is less susceptible to
changes in its DNA.
     ``If you're talking about humans, everyone's face is
different, so it might be easier to recognize us by targeting
the chest,'' said Thomas. ``That's kind of what they've done
here.''

                        Standard Treatment

     Available drugs for hepatitis C include Schering-Plough
Corp.'s Peg-Intron and Roche Holding AG's Pegasys, each taken in
combination with ribavirin, a generic drug. Treatment lasts a
year and can cause side effects including fever, fatigue and
seizures. Many patients quit before they're cured, Thomas said.
     The virus causes chronic infections in most patients,
leading to liver damage, or cirrhosis, in about 15 percent and
cancer in as many as 5 percent. Cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C
is the leading cause of liver transplants in the U.S., according
to the American Liver Foundation. A drug containing the
antibodies also might prevent the virus from recurring in
patients who undergo transplants, Law said.
     The disease is spread by contact with infected blood and
needles, and about 15 percent of people in the U.S. who inject
narcotics, such as heroin, catch the virus each year, Thomas
said. The antibodies might be given to people who think they've
been exposed, either from drug use or accidental needle sticks,
to avoid chronic infection, said Law.
     ``It would be similar to shots for rabies that are used in
exposed people,'' he said in a telephone interview today.

                    Drug Development Potential

     Law said that while he has been contacted by companies
interested in developing a drug from the antibodies, no deal is
in place. Further tests in animals, perhaps in chimpanzees,
might be needed before the antibodies are tried in people, he
said.
     The experiment is ``a good first step'' towards prevention
of some infections, Thomas said.
     The study was released today by the journal Nature
Medicine. Scientists from the University of Alberta in Edmonton,
and the U.K.'s University of Nottingham, University of
Birmingham, and University of Reading also contributed to the
study.

[scratchinghead]

Man, I'm going to put on a mouse costume and sneak into that lab.
Thanks!

[jboyhk]

According to the article the next step will be probably on chipanzee's so go reserve that costume!

[scratchinghead]

Note to self:
Pick up bananas on way back from costume shop

[jboyhk]

Great day for mice!! Cured of HepC and Sickle Cell Anemia!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/06/AR2007120602444.html

[scratchinghead]

Note to self:
Don't return mouse costume yet.