The invention relates to the field of drug development against acute radiation injury caused by exposure to high-energy electromagnetic waves (X-rays, gamma rays) or particles (alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons). To date, there is no effective drug to ameliorate radiation injury after accidental exposure to ionizing irradiation. The invention provides a method of treating radiation injury of a subject in need thereof comprising administering to the subject a peptide, or functional analogue or derivative thereof, of smaller than 30 amino acids. Furthermore, the invention provides use of a peptide, or functional analogue or derivative thereof, of smaller than 30 amino acids for the production of a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of a subject suffering from or believed to be suffering from radiation injury. In particular, the invention provides anti-radiation peptides having a dose reduction factor (DRF) against acute gamma irradiation of at least 1.10, said DRF determinable by testing which dose of radiation results in 50% mortality at 30 days (LD50/30) after whole body radiation (WBI) in a test group of mice treated with said peptide at 72 hours after WBI and, testing which dose of radiation results in 50% mortality at 30 days (LD50/30) after whole body radiation (WBI) in a control group of mice treated only with the vehicle of said peptide at 72 hours after WBI and wherein the DRF is calculated by dividing the LD50/30 of the peptide-treated animals by the LD50/30 of the vehicle-treated animals.
本发明涉及针对高能电磁波(X 射线、伽马射线)或粒子(α 粒子、β 粒子、中子)照射引起的急性辐射损伤的药物开发领域。迄今为止,还没有一种有效的药物可以改善意外遭受电离辐照后的辐射损伤。本发明提供了一种治疗有需要的受试者辐射损伤的方法,该方法包括向受试者施用小于 30 个
氨基酸的肽或其功能类似物或衍
生物。此外,本发明提供小于 30 个
氨基酸的肽或其功能类似物或衍
生物用于生产药物组合物,以治疗遭受或被认为遭受辐射损伤的受试者。特别是,本发明提供的抗辐射肽对急性伽马辐照的剂量降低系数(DRF)至少为 1.10,所述DRF可通过测试哪种剂量的辐射会在全身辐射(WBI)后30天(L
D50/30)导致用所述肽处理的试验组小鼠在全身辐射后72小时内死亡50%,以及测试哪种剂量的辐射会在全身辐射后30天(L
D50/30)导致小鼠在全身辐射后30天内死亡50%来确定、测试哪种剂量的辐射会导致在全身辐射(WBI)后 30 天(L
D50/30),在全身辐射(WBI)后 72 小时,在只用所述
多肽载体处理的对照组小鼠中造成 50%的死亡率,其中 DRF 的计算方法是用
多肽处理的动物的 L
D50/30 除以载体处理的动物的 L
D50/30。