West nile virus future or investigational therapies
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Treatment research
Morpholino antisense oligos conjugated to cell penetrating peptides have been shown to partially protect mice from WNV disease.[1] There have also been attempts to treat infections using ribavirin, intravenous immunoglobulin, or alpha interferon.[2] GenoMed, a US biotech company, has found that blocking angiotensin II can treat the "cytokine storm" of West Nile virus encephalitis as well as other viruses.[3]
In 2007 the World Community Grid launched a project where by computer modeling of the West Nile Virus (and related viruses) thousands of small molecules are screened for their potential anti-viral properties in fighting the West Nile Virus. This is a project which by the use of computer simulations potential drugs will be identified which will directly attack the virus once a person is infected. This is a distributed process project similar to SETI@Home where the general public downloads the World Community Grid agent and the program (along with thousands of other users) screens thousands of molecules while their computer would be otherwise idle. If the user needs to use the computer the program sleeps. There are several different projects running, including a similar one screening for anti-AIDS drugs.
References
- ↑ Deas, Tia S (2007). "In vitro resistance selection and in vivo efficacy of morpholino oligomers against West Nile virus". Antimicrob Agents Chemother. PMID 17485503. Unknown parameter
|coauthors=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ↑ Hayes E B, Sejvar J J, Zaki S R, Lanciotti R S, Bode A V, Campbell G L. "Virology, pathology, and clinical manifestations of West Nile virus disease." Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal 2005b; 11: 1174-1179.
- ↑ Moskowitz DW, Johnson FE. The central role of angiotensin I-converting enzyme in vertebrate pathophysiology. Curr Top Med Chem. 2004;4(13):1433-54. PMID: 15379656.