动物实验,埃博拉 z-bo 2020-11-05 318

　　Recently, a new study published online in Nature pointed out that an experimental drug cured all 18 monkeys infected with Ebola virus. The drug is called ZMapp and is developed by Max Planck Biopharmaceuticals. The authors of the new study said that the experiment is encouraging, but it is not yet certain whether the drug is equally effective and safe in humans. Making the results applicable to humans is still a long and difficult task.

　　The study was led by Gary Kobinger of the Department of Public Health, Winnipeg, Canada. The researchers first tested a mixture of Ebola virus antibodies made by Kobinger's laboratory to determine which mixture produced the best effect.

　　After, the researchers chose ZMapp and administered drugs to 3 groups of monkeys (6 in each group); these monkeys were intramuscularly injected with high doses of Ebola virus. The 3 monkeys in the control group did not take ZMapp.

　　In the end, all the 18 monkeys who received the treatment were cured, and all the monkeys in the control group died. Although the virus used in the experiment is different from the Ebola virus currently raging in West Africa, scientists confirmed in a test-tube study that ZMapp is equally effective against the current Ebola virus.

　　Thomas Geisbert, an Ebola virus expert and a virologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said: "This is a huge achievement."

　　In a conference call, Kobinger said: "This experiment is very remarkable. They saved the infected animals. I think this is a very critical step in the fight against Ebola." But Kobinger also emphasized that scientists still don't know the monkey model. And many differences between human infections.

　　Most human infections are due to exposure to the body fluids of Ebola patients, not due to high doses of Ebola virus injected into the muscle. On average, monkeys injected with the virus through the muscle die within 8 days, while the human body usually takes 3 to 21 days to show symptoms. Kobinger said: "It is difficult to apply the progress made by the monkey model to humans."