title: Antibodies as delivery vehicles for radioimmunotherapy of infectious diseases.
abstract: The field of infectious diseases is in crisis and there is a need for strategies that can facilitate the rapid development of new antimicrobial agents. Radioimmunotherapy (RIT), a therapeutic modality originally developed for cancer treatment, has recently been suggested as a novel therapy for the treatment of a variety of infectious diseases. Because specific antibodies are used in RIT as delivery vehicles of cytocidal radiation, their molecular weight influences the nonspecific accumulation in infectious foci and blood clearance, and their affinity-specific accumulation of antibodies in infectious foci. Like the problems encountered in oncology, relevant variables in the development of RIT of infectious diseases include target antigen-shedding; delivering radionuclides to infectious foci in organs, abscesses, granulomas, heart and brain, and potential safety concerns. Dadachova and Casadevall anticipate that RIT can be developed for many types of infectious diseases, including microbes resistant to conventional antimicrobial therapy and agents of biological warfare.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. edadacho@aecom.yu.edu
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dadachova
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casadevall
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000915:Antibody Affinity; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001419:Bacteria / Q000276:immunology / Q000528:radiation effects; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D005658:Fungi / Q000276:immunology / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D016499:Radioimmunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014780:Viruses / Q000276:immunology / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal