Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. has received clearance from Health Canada to proceed with a first-in-human trial in Canada using oral ARDS-003 (onternabez) to treat various immunomodulatory conditions. Oral ARDS-003 is positioned to modulate acute systemic inflammation and prevent sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and organ damage.
Researchers from Wenzhou Medical University and affiliated organizations presented the discovery of novel anti-inflammatory agents. Synthesis and optimization of a series of 4-oxo-N-phenyl-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxamide derivatives led to the identification of compound [I] as the lead, as it exhibited the best inhibitory effect in vitro. More specifically, [I] demonstrated the strongest inhibitory effect on LPS-induced TNF-α (82.58%) and IL-6 (75.05%) expression, while exhibiting no cytotoxicity at 10 μM in J774A.1 macrophages.
A deficiency in fumarate metabolism could be behind a new mechanism of inflammation mediated by mitochondrial DNA and RNA. Two independent and simultaneous studies described how the accumulation of fumarate in the mitochondria released the genetic material of this organelle through vesicles, activating an inflammatory signaling pathway.
Autoantibodies are typically not good news. But a group of researchers from Bellinzona, Switzerland, have observed that the presence of autoantibodies against chemokines, a special class of cytokines, is associated with mild disease and less risk of developing long COVID. “Our hypothesis was that antibodies to chemokines, if they existed, would also be associated with a negative outcome of the disease. But, what we found, in fact, was the exact opposite of what we were predicting,” Davide Robbiani, director of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, told BioWorld.
The pathogenesis of eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EGE), a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by eosinophil infiltration in the gastrointestinal tract, is still not well understood.
A new study found that nebulized mRNA therapy could be an effective approach to treating acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a rapidly progressing lung disease that can lead to respiratory failure and death. This work focused on two genes, nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) inhibitor α super-repressor (IκBα-SR) and superoxide dismutase 3 (SOD3), previously shown to reduce the severity of pneumonia when delivered prophylactically by viral vectors.
A multi-institutional team of researchers has reported the development of an anti-IL-8 antibody against endometriosis using recycling antibody engineering technology. The study confirmed the role of the inflammatory cytokine IL-8 in the development of inflammation and fibrosis in endometriosis and showed that administration of IL-8 antibodies in primate models improved endometriosis pathology.
Transthera Sciences Inc., a Nanjing, China-based company developing small-molecule therapies in cancer, inflammation and cardiovascular disease, raised ¥260 million (US$38 million) in a series D+ funding round to advance its first drug product.
An international team of researchers has created two bat stem cell lines that reveal an unusual number of viral sequences in bat cells compared with those of other mammals. Writing in an article posted online Feb. 21, 2023, in Cell, the scientists suggested that the unusual amount of viral genetic material found in the bat stem cells could explain why these mammals are largely unaffected by most viral infections, despite being able to transmit them.