By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Researchers at Advanced Biosystems Inc. in Virginia have found that a combination of antibiotics and antitoxin substances is an effective post-exposure treatment for anthrax, Serguei Popov, a researcher at Advanced Biosystems, told Global Security Newswire yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 30).

During the autumn 2001 anthrax attacks, the antibiotic Cipro was administered to thousands of people suspected of being exposed to anthrax.  Preliminary efficacy testing has found that the combination approach — using both antibiotics and antitoxins — was effective in treating anthrax, Popov said.  Antitoxin substances, such as bestatin, which is also used as a cancer treatment, prevents anthrax bacteria-produced toxin from killing body cells, he said (see GSN, Jan. 14).  While antitoxins prevent cell death by themselves, they do not stop bacteria from replicating inside the body, so antibiotics are also necessary.

Advanced Biosystems researchers infected mice with between 10 to 30 times the lethal dose of anthrax, Popov said.  The mice were then administered the combination therapy, which consisted of low doses of antibiotics for 10 days along with the antitoxin substances.

The test found that the combination therapy resulted in almost full survival of the infected mice, Popov said.  In comparison, the use of antibiotics alone resulted in only about a 45 percent survival rate, while the use of antitoxin substance alone resulted in a survival rate of up to only 20 percent, he said.

For further information, see:

CDC Frequently Asked Questions About Anthrax

Journal of the American Medical Association Background on Anthrax

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