Antibodies harvested from pediatricians’ blood are up to 25 times more effective at protecting against common respiratory infections and colds than existing antibody therapies – and are already being developed as preventative treatments.
In the fight against common diseases, scientists have turned to an unusual source: pediatricians blood.
This is a treasure trove of powerful antibodies which could be used as preventative treatments, for example, against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and a common cold virus.
As explained by , pediatricians are constantly exposed to respiratory viruses, making them a potentially little explored resource in the search for highly potent antibodies against such pathogens.
Although antibody therapies are available to prevent infections like RSV — which infects nearly all children under age 2 and can lead to severe breathing difficulties — they neutralize only some strains. But broader action treatment may now be in prospect.
A team including Hui Zhai from Chongqing Medical University Children’s Hospital
In a new study, this Wednesday in Science Translational Medicinethe blood from 10 pediatricians who had worked at the hospital for more than a decade.
From there, researchers discovered 56 potent antibodies against RSV in the immune cells of pediatricians.
The researchers then generated artificial versions of these antibodies and tested them in the laboratory, finding that three were particularly active against a diverse range of RSV strains.
One of the three also neutralized the human metapneumoviruswhich belongs to the same family of viruses as RSV and is a common cause of coldsbut it can also lead to serious illness in some children.
Subsequent tests in mice showed that injections of these three pediatric-derived antibodies, either alone or in combination, prevented the animals from developing symptoms when they were infected with RSV or human metapneumovirus.
In fact, The pediatricians’ antibodies were up to 25 times better at blocking RSV than existing antibodies called nirsevimab and clesrovimaband neutralized a wider range of strains.
As New Scientist points out, there are currently two ways to protect babies from RSV: one is to administer a vaccine during pregnancy, which protects babies after birth; The other is to give them an injection of nirsevimab or clesrovimab, which neutralize the virus if a child contracts it, thus helping to prevent serious symptoms.
There is, however, no approved vaccine or antibody therapy for human metapneumovirus.
