NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – After someone is exposed to
rabies, they have to be treated quickly with anti-rabies serum,
or immune globulin – a scarce commodity. Now, researchers may
have come up with an alternative.
Anti-rabies immune globulin is derived from the blood of
horses or people who have been infected with the rabies virus,
producing antibodies that can be used to neutralize rabies in
newly infected people.
The new study, involving experiments in hamsters, shows
that a combination of two monoclonal antibodies or MAbs, which
can be produced consistently and in relatively large
quantities, may be as effective and safe as anti-rabies immune
globulin for post-exposure prevention, according to Dutch and
US researchers.
Dr. Jaap Goudsmit of Crucell Holland BV, Leiden, and
colleagues point out in the Journal of Infectious Diseases that
the annual death rate from canine rabies is about 55,000. There
is a limited supply of anti-rabies immune globulin, which in
combination with rabies vaccine is effective in preventing
full-blown disease developing after someone has been exposed to
the virus.
The researchers have identified a combination of two MAbs,
CR57 and CR4098, that show promise as a method of post-exposure
prevention. The MAb combination neutralized a panel of 26
subtypes of rabies virus that are common sources of infection.
When administered to hamsters along with the rabies vaccine
24 hours after the animals were exposed to a lethal dose of
rabies, the hamsters were protected. The results were
comparable to those achieved with human immune globulin,
Goudsmit’s group reports.
The researchers also note that unlike human immune
globulin, production of these MAbs would be consistent from
batch to batch and would avoid the risks associated with
blood-derived products.
They conclude that the MAb cocktail is a safe and
efficacious alternative to anti-rabies immune globulin for
rabies post-exposure prevention.
SOURCE: Journal of Infectious Diseases, March 15, 2006.
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