Rabies is a lethal disease in humans and animals, killing approximately 60,000 people every year. Currently, there is no treatment available, except post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) that can be administered whenever exposure to a rabid animal took place. Here we describe the beneficial effects of a combination treatment initiated at day 4 post infection, containing anti-viral drugs and immune modulators in infected mice. Combination therapy resulted in significant increase in survival time (P < 0.05) and significantly lowers viral RNA in the brain and spinal cord (P < 0.05). Furthermore, treatment influenced markers of pyroptosis and apoptosis and early inflammatory response as measured by the levels of TNF-α. Morphological lesions were absent in rabies virus infected mice with few signs of inflammation. However, these were not significant between the different groups.

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doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.05.065, hdl.handle.net/1765/107116
Vaccine
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Martina, B., Smreczak, M. (Marcin), Orlowska, A. (Anna), Marzec, A. (Anna), Trebas, P. (Pawel), Roose, J. M., … Koraka, P. (2018). Combination drug treatment prolongs survival of experimentally infected mice with silver-haired bat rabies virus. Vaccine. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.05.065