Anti-IL-6 Versus Anti-IL-6R Blocking Antibodies to Treat Acute Ebola Infection in BALB/c Mice: Potential Implications for Treating Cytokine Release Syndrome

We present data showing that direct neutralization of IL-6 with an α-IL-6 mAb in a BALB/c Ebolavirus (EBOV) challenge model produced a statistically significant improvement in outcome compared with controls when administered within the first 24 h of challenge and repeated every 72 h. A similar effect was seen in mice treated with the same dose of α-IL-6R mAb when the treatment was delayed 48 h post-challenge. These data suggest that direct neutralization of IL-6, early during the course of infection, may provide additional clinical benefits to IL-6 receptor blockade alone during treatment of patients with virus-induced CRS.
Source: Frontiers in Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research