Cytokines are an integral part of the body’s immune system, but
they also trigger adverse host responses such as fever, pain, and
inflammation. “Cytokine storm” is a situation that the immune system
produces excessive pro-inflammatory cytokines, locally or systemically,
in response to a number of infectious and non-infectious stimulants, or
physical and chemical damages. The high rate of patient death during the
outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), H1N1, and Ebola
virus infection is a typical example of cytokine storm’s ferocity to
negatively affect body functions. Currently, no antibiotics or antiviral
drugs are able to stop the cytokine storm once it breaks out. At
Anogen, we believe that tackling the harmful cytokine storm is a novel
strategy of bio-defense.
We have initiated cytokine research since the 1990s and have
developed hundreds of hybridomas that produce high specificity and high
affinity monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against many important
cytokines, including TNF-α, GM-CSF, IL-2, IL-8, IL-10, IL-15, IL-17, IL-18, and TGF- β.
In addition, three different ELISA kits for detection of multiple
cytokine epitopes have been developed and widely applied to biomedical
research.
IL-8 is a potent chemokine for neutrophils, growth factor of
epidermal cells, and a pro-angiogenic factor. Psoriasis is a common skin
disease characterized by scales that are built up with rapid growing
keratinocytes accompanied by inflammation and redness around the scales.
IL-8 levels elevate up to 150-fold in psoriatic tissue, suggesting its
role in the pathogenesis.
Anogen-Yes Biotech is the first company utilizing anti IL-8 Ab to
treat psoriasis. Our proprietary technology (ABCREAM) is a topical
ointment containing IL-8 neutralization Ab. IL-8 neutralization Ab
blocks the activity of IL-8 which mediates the abnormal proliferation
and differentiation of keratinocytes, and increases neutrolphil
infiltration in the lesion vicinity to exert the anti-inflammatory
effect. The ointment was found to be effective during clinical
trial. 49% to 53.8% of patients achieved a greater than 60% improvement
and 12.9% to 15.3% of patients achieved a greater than 90% improvement
in PASI scores after a six week treatment cycle with ABCream.
ABCream may be effective in treatment of other inflammatory skin
conditions as well. Preliminary observations suggest that it may also be
used for treatment of eczema, a common skin condition. It was awarded
Class I New Drug Certificate issued by China Food and Drug
Administration (CFDA) in 2001.
HFMD and IL-8
Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a potentially
life-threatening illness commmonly seen in children mostly younger than
five years of age. HFMD associated with Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and
Coxsackievirus A6 (CV-A6), members of the Picornaviridae family in the
genus Enterovirus. Although present globally in most countries
including Europe and North America, the largest HFMD outbreaks has been
seen in the Asia-Pacific area, for unknown reasons. HFMD outbreaks are
not only increased in recent years, but more severe cases are also more
common. Even worse, the HFMD virus is likely to develop partial
variations. The fatality rate of severe HFMD is higher.
Hyperglycemia, Pre-albumin and leukocytosis are currently used for
clinical prediction of the severity of HFMD. However, they are both
insensitive and nonspecific in HFMD patients.
It has been proved that cytokines and chemokines released by EV71
or CV-A6 infected immune cells contribute to the disease severity. The
uncontrolled immune responses result in abnormally elevated expression
of cytokines that cause inflammation, tissue damage, pulmonary edema and
other pathological damage. This phenomenon is known as "Cytokine
Storm".
It has been proved that cytokines and chemokines released by EV71
or CV-A6 infected immune cells contribute to the disease severity. The
uncontrolled immune responses result in abnormally elevated expression
of cytokines that cause inflammation, tissue damage, pulmonary edema and
other pathological damage. This phenomenon is known as "Cytokine
Storm".
The latest research showed that among many cytokines, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, MCP-1, IFN-γ, GM-CSF and TNF-α increase
in enterovirus infection. IL-8 is strongly associated with the severity
of HFMD with massive neutrophil infiltration of tissue and organ. IL-6
and IL-10, although elevated in HFMD patients, are not related to the
disease severity. Thus, IL-8 level could be used as a predictive marker
in the early stages of severe enterovirus infection. In addition,
humanized anti-IL-8 antibody may prevent fatal complications such as
brainstem encephalitis (BE), and pulmonary edema (PE) to reduce the
mortality of severe HFMD.
Our project is to develop a new medical device of multiplex
cytokine immuno-assay (ELISA) for early prediction of severe HFMD and an
effective therapeutic humanized antibody against IL-8.