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Paediatricians' blood used to make new treatments for RSV and colds
Antibodies harvested from the blood of paediatricians are up to 25 times better at protecting against the common respiratory infection RSV than existing antibody therapies, and are now being developed as preventative treatments
In the fight against common childhood illnesses, scientists have turned to an unusual source: the blood of paediatricians. It turns out this is a treasure trove of powerful antibodies that could be used as preventative treatments. These have even outperformed approved antibody therapies against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and a common cold virus.
Paediatricians are almost constantly exposed to respiratory viruses, making them a potentially underexplored resource in the hunt for highly potent antibodies against such pathogens. Although antibody therapies are available for preventing infections like RSV – which infects almost every child by the age of 2 and can trigger severe breathing difficulties – they only neutralise some strains. But a broader-acting treatment could now be on the cards.
A team including Hui Zhai at the Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University screened the blood of 10 paediatricians who had been working at the hospital for over a decade. From this, the researchers discovered 56 potent antibodies against RSV from the paediatricians’ immune cells.
The researchers then generated artificial versions of these antibodies and tested them in the lab, finding that three were particularly active against a diverse range of RSV strains. One of the three also neutralised human metapneumovirus, which belongs to the same virus family as RSV and is a common cause of colds, but can also lead to severe illness in some children.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2516079-paediatricians-blood-used-to-make-new-treatments-for-rsv-and-colds/
In the fight against common childhood illnesses, scientists have turned to an unusual source: the blood of paediatricians. It turns out this is a treasure trove of powerful antibodies that could be used as preventative treatments. These have even outperformed approved antibody therapies against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and a common cold virus.
Paediatricians are almost constantly exposed to respiratory viruses, making them a potentially underexplored resource in the hunt for highly potent antibodies against such pathogens. Although antibody therapies are available for preventing infections like RSV – which infects almost every child by the age of 2 and can trigger severe breathing difficulties – they only neutralise some strains. But a broader-acting treatment could now be on the cards.
A team including Hui Zhai at the Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University screened the blood of 10 paediatricians who had been working at the hospital for over a decade. From this, the researchers discovered 56 potent antibodies against RSV from the paediatricians’ immune cells.
The researchers then generated artificial versions of these antibodies and tested them in the lab, finding that three were particularly active against a diverse range of RSV strains. One of the three also neutralised human metapneumovirus, which belongs to the same virus family as RSV and is a common cause of colds, but can also lead to severe illness in some children.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2516079-paediatricians-blood-used-to-make-new-treatments-for-rsv-and-colds/