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J. Venom. Anim. Toxins incl. Trop. Dis.

V.21, 2015.

Review article - ISSN 1678-9199.

 

Post-exposure treatment of Ebola virus using passive immunotherapy: proposal for a new strategy

 

Jean-Philippe Chippaux 1  4, Leslie V Boyer 2, Alejandro Alagón 3

 

1 UMR 216, Mother and Child Facing Tropical Diseases, Research Institute for Development (IRD), Cotonou, Benin, and School of Pharmacy, Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France

2 Venom Immunochemistry, Pharmacology and Emergency Response (VIPER) Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

3 Institute of Biotechnology, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

4 Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Cotonou, 08 BP 841, Bénin

 

ABSTRACT

Background

Better treatments are urgently needed for the management of Ebola virus epidemics in Equatorial Africa.

 

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of the literature on the use of passive immunotherapy for the treatment or prevention of Ebola virus disease. We placed findings from this review into the context of passive immunotherapy currently used for venom-induced disease, and recent improvements in manufacturing of polyvalent antivenom products.

 

Results

Passive immunotherapy appears to be one of the most promising specific treatments for Ebola. However, its potential has been incompletely evaluated, considering the overall experience and recent improvement of immunotherapy. Development and use of heterologous serum derivatives could protect people exposed to Ebola viruses with reasonable cost and logistics.

 

Conclusion

Hyperimmune equine IgG fragments and purified polyclonal whole IgG deserve further consideration as treatment for exposure to the Ebola virus.

 

Key words: Ebola; Epidemics; Immunotherapy; Prophylaxis; Africa

 

Received: January 16, 2015; Revised: February 3, 2015; Accepted: February 15, 2015

 

Corresponding author: jean-philippe.chippaux@ird.fr

 

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

 

Authors’ contributions

All authors participated in the development of the concept. JPC completed the literature search and drafted the manuscript, which was reviewed and refined by LVB and AA. The corresponding author affirms that he had full access to all data and final responsibility for the decision to submit. Development of this proposal was not specifically funded by any grant or contract. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.