BOSTON, May 19, 2008 — Replikins Ltd. has found that very high concentrations of its replikin genetic sequences are found in the trypanosomes that are the infectious agents in malaria. The levels found by the company are in fact the highest replikin concentrations observed to date in any infectious disease agent. The company has also found that these concentrations cycle over several years.
Replikins appear to be possible agents or promoters of infectivity, host morbidity and mortality. Timely repeated analyses of cyclic changes in an organism's replikin structure may be useful to bring current the targets for the chemical synthesis of ReplikinBestFit(TM) vaccines. These strain-specific vaccines, manufactured in 7 days, were recently shown to protect 91% of shrimp against the lethal Taura Syndrome Virus.
To obtain the current malaria results, publicly-available protein sequence data on Pl. Falciparum, the most common strain in malaria, were gathered from the Pubmed online listing, and examined against World Health Organization data on human malaria deaths for each year between 1986 and 2007. The quantitative replikin concentration (Replikin Count(TM) = number of replikins per 100 amino acids) examined by automated FluForecast(R) software found those areas of the trypanosome genome which have the highest replikin concentrations (Replikin Peak Genes(TM)).
Two instances of cyclical behavior were revealed in the trypanosome: the first cycle occurred from 1986 to 1995, and the second from 1996 to 2005. The peak of the first cycle, in 1987, with a Replikin CountTM of 38.2 +/-23.5, was followed by a higher peak in the next cycle, in 1999, of 62.9+/-63, exceeding 100 by overlap; both peaks were related to higher human mortality. Counts declined after the 1999 high to a low in 2005 of 7.4+/-6.5; and a decreased mortality rate followed between 2000 and 2005. A third malaria replikin cycle appears to have begun in 2007 with the Replikin Count(TM) increasing from 7.4+/-6.5 to 17.2+/-19; based on this information, the company is predicting further increases in count and malaria mortality.
Cyclic increases in replikin concentration in the genome can be a mechanism of expansion of an infectious organism into a territory. In other examples, the replikin concentration of West Nile Virus was earlier found to increase annually through two distinct cycles as the virus expanded in the U.S.: the first from 2000 to 2003, and the second from 2004 to 2007 (p less than 0.001). Increases in the annual number of CDC reported human cases followed each of the virus replikin concentration increases. Similar correlations also have been shown for replikin concentrations and human mortality in an influenza H5N1 cycle between 1997 and 2007.
Over the last 10 years, malaria has accounted for more than 10 million deaths worldwide – by comparison, over the same period the H5N1 (Bird Flu) virus has been responsible for less than 300 human deaths. Consistent with the high replikin counts found in this study, trypanosomes have one of the highest replication rates in nature. This property may account in part for the resistance of malaria to previous attempts at vaccination. The discovery of the relation of the replikins to rapid replication offers a new approach, and the means, to inhibit rapid replication and limit mortality in malaria.
Contact:
Replikins Ltd., 38 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02215
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Tel: 646-320-5910
http://www.Replikins.com