Treatment Lets Infected Rodents Live Longer
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
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German scientists say they have lengthened the life of mice infected with scrapie, an illness similar to mad cow disease, with a compound that could provide a new approach to treating affected humans.
They reported in Saturday’s issue of the British journal The Lancet that they injected the rodents with a product designed to stimulate an immune response.
Mice given the experimental treatment lived 38% longer than those that received a placebo. The scientists said they were not sure how the compound, CpG oligodeoxynucleotides, worked, but they said it was safe for humans.
