Kournikakis Bill, Mandeville Rosemonde, Brousseau Pauline, Ostroff Gary
Chemical and Biological Defence Section, Defence R&D Canada, Suffield, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Can
MedGenMed. 2003 Mar 21;5(1):1.
The recent events increasing the threat of bioterrorism have prompted a widespread search for defenses against this peril.
To evaluate the anthrax-protective effect of beta1,3-glucan immune modulators (PGG-glucan and WGP beta glucan) in an experimental animal model.
Beta1,3-glucan immune modulators were administered by subcutaneous injection to Balb/c mice 2 days prior to anthrax challenge. WGP beta glucan was administered by daily oral gavage for 7 days prior to challenge, or in drinking water for 10 days postchallenge with a lethal dose of Bacillus anthracis spores. Survival, survival time, and microbial bioburden relative to an infected, untreated control group were assessed.
A single injected dose of PGG-glucan or WGP beta glucan immune modulators given 2 days before challenge significantly: (a) increased the survival rate of infected mice (2.5-fold), (b) diminished the bacterial load in the lungs of infected mice (4-8-fold), and (c) increased the proportion of bacteria-free animals 10 days after challenge (2-fold). In mice prophylactically administered oral WGP beta glucan for 1 week prior to infection, survival increased from 50% to 100%; therapeutic administration of oral WGP beta glucan for 10 days postinfection increased survival from 30% up to 90% in treatment groups.
These results demonstrate the potential for beta1,3-glucan immune modulators to provide a significant degree of protection against anthrax, a potential biological warfare (BW) agent in a mouse model of anthrax infection. Further studies are needed to optimize protection, evaluate activity in combination with other treatment options, demonstrate activity in a validated primate model of infection, and determine if protection is effective against other potential BW agents.
近期生物恐怖主义威胁的增加促使人们广泛寻求抵御这一危险的方法。
在实验动物模型中评估β1,3 - 葡聚糖免疫调节剂（PGG - 葡聚糖和WGPβ - 葡聚糖）对炭疽的保护作用。
在炭疽攻击前2天，通过皮下注射将β1,3 - 葡聚糖免疫调节剂给予Balb/c小鼠。在攻击前7天，通过每日口服灌胃给予WGPβ - 葡聚糖，或在给予致死剂量的炭疽芽孢杆菌孢子攻击后10天，将其添加到饮用水中。相对于感染的未治疗对照组，评估存活率、存活时间和微生物生物负荷。
在攻击前2天给予单次注射剂量的PGG - 葡聚糖或WGPβ - 葡聚糖免疫调节剂，显著：（a）提高了感染小鼠的存活率（2.5倍），（b）减少了感染小鼠肺部的细菌载量（4 - 8倍），以及（c）提高了攻击后10天无细菌动物的比例（2倍）。在感染前预防性口服WGPβ - 葡聚糖1周的小鼠中，存活率从50%提高到100%；感染后口服WGPβ - 葡聚糖进行治疗10天，治疗组的存活率从30%提高到90%。
这些结果表明，β1,3 - 葡聚糖免疫调节剂在炭疽感染的小鼠模型中，具有为抵御炭疽（一种潜在的生物战剂）提供显著保护的潜力。需要进一步研究以优化保护效果，评估与其他治疗方案联合使用时的活性，在经过验证的灵长类感染模型中证明其活性，并确定该保护对其他潜在生物战剂是否有效。
