[procaare] Press release from Farmabrasilis on P-MAPA

["Iseu Nunes" <iseununes@terra.com.br>]

Dear  Sir or Madam,

I thought that the news below would interest you. 

Best regards,

Iseu Nunes
Farmabrasilis-CEO
www.farmabrasilis.org
BRAZIL-BASED RESEARCH NETWORK Africa. 
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A single dose of P-MAPA, administered 24 hours post-infectious challenge, was effective at preventing death due to Punta Toro virus infection, according to the  report published in the April 22 issue of Antiviral Research.  

"This collaborative study is a milestone for the P-MAPA development, as it confirms some of the properties of this compound as medicine already in the pipeline for infectious diseases," says Dr. Iseu Nunes, Farmabrasilis CEO. 

"The collaborative research with NIAID programs is really an efficient way of speeding up the development of new medicines", adds Professor Nelson Duran, Farmabrasilis Scientific Director.  

P-MAPA has previously demonstrated anti-tumor activity in several mouse models. Extensive toxicology studies suggest that the compound  is a safe drug, since in acute, subchronic and chronic toxicity  studies performed in rodents, non-human primates and also in phase Iclinical trials, the compound did not display relevant signs of  toxicity.  

Recent studies showed that P-MAPA induced proliferation of white blood cell such as T lymphocytes, increases cytokine production (mainly gamma interferon and interleukin-2), NK cell activity and stimulates nitric oxide release by macrophages. These data indicate that P-MAPA may be broadly active, helping to fight infections caused by intracellular pathogens including viruses. This is feasible because induction of interkeukin-2 (IL-2) and gamma interferon (IFN-Î) are  also essential factors in the establishment of protective immunity against viral infection. 

Farmabrasilis encourages new partnerships and can be reached at its website www.farmabrasilis.org [1] and-e-mail:  alliances@farmabrasilis.org [2] 

Contacts: Dr. Iseu Nunes Farmabrasilis CEO
iseununes@farmabrasilis.org.br [3]

References 
_Antiviral Research _2009, 82 (3) (published online on 22 April2009)  
doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2009.04.006    

A BIOTECHNOLOGICAL PRODUCT AND ITS POTENTIAL AS A NEW IMMUNOMODULATOR FOR TREATMENT OF ANIMAL PHLEBOVIRUS INFECTION: PUNTA TORO VIRUS 

Nelson DurÃn, Brian B. Gowen, Fabio T.M. Costa, Giselle Z. Justo, Marcelo Brocchi, Odilon S. Nunesand Iseu S. Nunes 

Intracellular pathogens with widespread drug-resistance contribute substantially to the increasing rates in morbidity and mortality due to emerging and reemerging diseases. Thus, the development of new drugs, including those that can enhance the immune response, is urgently needed. The immunomodulator, P-MAPA, a proteinaceous aggregate of ammonium and magnesium phospholinoleate-palmitoleate  anhydride derived from _Aspergillus oryzae_, have been shown to  induce antitumor activities. The ability of this compound to elicit protective immunity against viral infections has not been fully explored. Here, we report findings on the use of P-MAPA as an antiviral agent in a mouse model of acute phleboviral (Punta Toro virus) disease. A single dose administered i.p. 24 h post-infectious challenge (100 mg/kg dose of P-MAPA) was remarkably effective at  preventing death due to Punta Toro virus infection. This dose also reduced systemic viral burden and liver discoloration assayed on day 3 of infection. Taken together, our findings indicate that non-specific immunotherapy with P-MAPA appears to be an effective treatment for blocking Punta Toro virus-induced disease and suggest that further exploration with other viral disease models is warranted.