REBACIN® as a noninvasive clinical intervention for high-risk human papillomavirus persistent infection.

The development of highly sensitive HPV-genotyping tests has opened the possibility of treating HPV-infected women before high-grade lesions appear. The lack of efficient intervention for persistent high-risk HPV infection necessitates the need for development of novel therapeutic strategy. Here we demonstrate that REBACIN®, a proprietary antiviral biologics, has shown potent efficacy in the clearance of persistent HPV infections. Two independent parallel clinical studies were investigated, which a total of 199 patients were enrolled and randomly divided into a REBACIN®-test group and a control group without treatment. The viral clearance rates for the REBACIN® groups were 61.5% (24/39) and 62.5% (35/56), respectively, for the two independent parallel studies. In contrast, the nontreatment groups showed self-clearance rates at 20.0% (8/40) and 12.5% (8/64). We further found that REBACIN® was able to significantly repress the expression of HPV E6 and E7 oncogenes in TC-1 and Hela cells. The two viral genes are well known for the development of high-grade premalignancy lesion and cervical cancer. In a mouse model, REBACIN® was indicated to notably suppress E6/E7-induced tumor growth, suggesting E6 and E7 oncogenes as a potential target of REBACIN®. Taken together, our studies shed light into the development of a novel noninvasive therapeutic intervention for clearance of persistent HPV infection with significant efficacy.

Extraction of high-quality RNA from rubber tree leaves.

A specific technique capable of producing high-quality RNA for rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) was established for challenging tissues: leaves of the rubber tree. Total RNA was extracted by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-LiCl combined with TRIzol reagent. The isolated RNA was highly intact. With RNA as template, full-length cDNA was obtained (NCBI, AY461413) by RACE.

Case Report: Noninvasive Clinical Intervention of REBACIN® on Histologic Regression of High Grade Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia.

High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) persistent infection is the major cause of cervical cancer. Clinical intervention of hrHPV-associated high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) is critical to prevent cervical cancer, and current treatment is surgery (an invasive therapy). However, some patients refuse to do so for an afraid of potential adverse effects on future fertility or other concerns which creates a critical need for development of non-invasive therapeutic strategies. Here, we report for the first time the cases of non-invasive intervention with REBACIN®, a proprietary antiviral biologics, in clinical treatment of HSIL. From 12,958 visiting patients assessed for eligibility, 18 HSIL-patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia-grade 2, positive of both diffused overexpression of p16 and high-risk HPV were enrolled in this non-invasive clinical intervention mainly due to concerns of future fertility. REBACIN® was administered intravaginally every other day for 3 months (one-course) except during menstrual period, and were followed up for 6-36 months for the examination of high-risk HPV DNA, cervical cytology, and histopathology. After one to three course treatments, most cases (16/18) displayed both the regression from HSIL (CIN2) to normal cervical cytology and clearance of high-risk HPV infection. Further studies demonstrated REBACIN® significantly suppressed HPV16 E7 oncoprotein expression in a human cervical cancer cell line, which is consistent with previous finding that REBACIN® inhibits the growth of tumors induced by expression of E6/E7 oncogenes of either HPV16 or HPV18. This report indicates REBACIN® as a novel effective non-invasive clinical intervention for HSIL-patients as well for high-risk HPV persistent infection, providing a new clinical option for the non-invasive treatment of hrHPV-associated high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, which is worthy of further research on clinical validation and application.