title: Passive immunotherapy with dromedary immune serum in an experimental animal model for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection.
abstract: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a highly lethal pulmonary infection. Serum from convalescent MERS patients may provide some benefit but is not readily available. In contrast, nearly all camels in the Middle East have been infected with MERS-CoV. Here, we show that sera obtained from MERS-immune camels augment the kinetics of MERS-CoV clearance and reduce the severity of pathological changes in infected lungs, with efficacy proportional to the titer of MERS-CoV-neutralizing serum antibody.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Middle East respiratory syndrome, caused by a coronavirus, is highly lethal, with a case fatality rate of 35 to 40%. No specific therapy is available, and care is generally supportive. One promising approach is passive administration of sera from convalescent human MERS patients or other animals to exposed or infected patients. The vast majority of, if not all, camels in the Middle East have been infected with MERS-CoV, and some contain high titers of antibody to the virus. Here, we show that this antibody is protective if delivered either prophylactically or therapeutically to mice infected with MERS-CoV, indicating that this may be a useful intervention in infected patients.
authors: Department of Microbiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Jincun
authors: J
authors: Zhao
authors: The School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
authors: Ranawaka A P M
authors: RA
authors: Perera
authors: Division of Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
authors: Ghazi
authors: G
authors: Kayali
authors: Department of Pathology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Meyerholz
authors: Department of Microbiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA stanley-perlman@uiowa.edu malik@hku.hk.
authors: Stanley
authors: S
authors: Perlman
authors: The School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China stanley-perlman@uiowa.edu malik@hku.hk.
authors: Malik
authors: M
authors: Peiris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002162:Camelus; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007116:Immunization, Passive / Q000379:methods*; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007106:Immune Sera