New agent strikes at respiratory syncytial virus replication

Because a dangerous inflammatory response occurs so soon after RSV begins replicating in the lungs, Garofalo said, antiviral therapy by itself is unlikely to be sufficient to treat severe RSV infection in infants. But it could be a critical part of a “combination therapy” that also included drugs to reduce RSV-induced lung inflammation and boost T-cell response.

“The virus continues to replicate for days in the lungs of infected infants, and it induces inflammation as long as it replicates,” Garofalo said. “So stopping viral replication would be a very important part of any therapeutic strategy for RSV.”

Other authors of the paper (“Inhibition of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections With Morpholino Oligomers in Cell Cultures and in Mice”) include Dr. Shen-Hao Lai and Dr. Sui-Ling Liao of Chang Gung University, Taiwan, Republic of China; David A. Stein and Patrick L. Iversen of AVI BioPharma Inc.; and Dr. Antonella Casola, assistant professor Antonieta Guerrero-Plata, research associate Chao Hong and postdoctoral fellow Teodora Ivanciuc of the UTMB Department of Pediatrics. Subscribers to Molecular Therapy can read the article online now at http://www.nature.com/mt/journal/vaop/ncurrent/index.html#29042008.

This research was conducted under a subcontract to Garofalo from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Viral Respiratory Pathogens Research Unit.

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