10/06/2008

Mechanism of action of P-MAPA

• Proposed mechanism of therapeutic action

 

P-MAPA has exhibited important biological properties when used in cellular systems, in experimental animals and in preliminary assays in humans. These include the capacity to combat cancer and infectious diseases.

 

Currently known effects of P-MAPA on immune system components include stimulatory effect on human toll-like receptors (TLR-2 and TLR-4), proliferation of T lymphocytes and production of cytokines particularly interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) leading to increased activity of natural killer (NK) cells.

 

P-MAPA given either prior or after tumor inoculation or bacterial infection, increased the number of bone marrow granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells (CFU-GM).

 

Since it is known that IFN-gamma has immunoregulatory, antitumor and antiviral activities, it may be hypothesized that the action of P-MAPA involves immunotherapeutic mechanisms.

 

Natural killer (NK) cells and T lymphocytes are also able to destroy cancer cells or virus-infected cells by directly targeting them.

 

In several animal models for cancer study, P-MAPA has clearly demonstrated an ability to revert tumor-induced immunosuppression. This has been associated to a significant therapeutic impact on the primary disease and its metastatic process.

 

Depending on the type of tumor, the therapeutic effect of P-MAPA on animal models for cancer study is either a reduction of the number of metastases, or a retardation of the tumoral process, or else its a complete regression

 

The immunosuppression reversion associated to P-MAPA has also been observed in experimental models for infectious diseases, and resulted in the protection of the host and in high survival rates of animals, even for those experimentally infected with lethal doses of infectious agents.

 

The above observations, taken together, suggest that the effects of P-MAPA are related to immunotherapeutic mechanisms.