Applications of C5a antagonists in vivo

Funded Activity Summary

Many serious inflammatory diseases, such as arthritis, septic shock, lung shock and heart disease are poorly controlled with currently available drugs. There is much evidence that a circulating hormone system called complement is involved with exacerbating these diseases, yet there are no drugs available to counteract its effects. One powerful component of the complement system, called C5a, causes inflammation and is suspected of causing tissue damage and suffering in these and many other immune diseases. An agent that could block the effects of C5a could be very useful clinically. There is no such drug available as yet. We have developed powerful agents which specifically block C5a in laboratory tests on isolated cells and tissues, and now propose to test their effectiveness in rats in which the above human disease conditions are mimicked. Our preliminary results are very promising, and we will conduct further testing to determine the scope of the actions of the new drugs. One of our new agents is orally active in rats, and we will determine how the blood levels of the drug relate to its beneficial effects. We are also planning to develop agents that are more effective when given by mouth. The results could lead to a new type of anti-inflammatory drug for humans suffering from a variety of diseases that are poorly treatable at present.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2000

End Date: 01-01-2002

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $214,697.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical biochemistry - carbohydrates

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

C5a antagonists | arthritis | complement C5a | immune complex disease | immunoinflammatory disease | new class of anti-inflammatory drug | sepsis and ARDS

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