Restenosis/atherosclerosis diagnosis, prophylaxis and therapy

US6183752A · kind A · utility

Assignees

• Pasteur Mérieux Sérums et Vaccins S.A. · FR
• The United States of America, as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services · US

Inventors

• Stephen Epstein · Rockville, US
• Toren Finkel · Bethesda, US
• Edith Speir · Annandale, US
• Yi Zhou · Lexington, US
• Jianhui Zhu · Bethesda, US
• Lorne Erdile · Stroudsburg, US
• Steven E. Pincus · East Greenbush, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 5, 1997
• Grant date: Feb 6, 2001
• Expiry date: Feb 5, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C12Q2600/156
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Disclosed and claimed are compositions and methods for therapy and/or prevention of restenosis and/or atherosclerosis. The compositions can include an agent for decreasing viral load of cytomegalovirus, such as an immunological composition or vaccine against cytomegalovirus (CMV) containing at least one epitope of interest of CMV and/or an expression system which expresses at least one epitope of interest of CMV. Such compositions can include at least one epitope of p53. Alternatively, the compositions can include at least one epitope of p53 and/or an expression system which expresses the epitope. The methods can include administering the compositions to a patient in need of such therapy and/or prevention. Additionally, compositions and methods for diagnosing atherosclerosis and/or restenosis, or susceptibility thereto, including screening a sample from a patient for antibodies to CMV and/or CMV proteins and/or screening a sample from a patient for specific viral proteins that predict whether the virus has been reactivated and/or antibodies thereto and/or detecting whether CMV nucleic acid, e.g., mRNA is present in peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) and/or detecting a cellular-medi…