Ever since Brownie started on the experimental drug, RetroMAD1, I had been communicating by sms and phone with the biologist who co-developed the drug. Mr Huan invited me to visit his lab and meet up so that he could explain to me how the drug works.
So, I went to his lab today. Mr Huan spent a long time explaining everything about the drug and his research.
In short, this is what I've gathered, from my layperson's understanding, using very simple layperson language. Any inaccuracies is entirely mine and I will take full responsibility for it. It is with this understanding that I share the following, with Mr Huan's permission:
RetroMAD1 is the first multifunctional oral delivery broad spectrum antiviral ever developed. It has been used as an experimental drug for one year now and has achieved success in treating the following diseases:
1. FIV (cats)
2. FeLV (cats)
3. Feline Panleukopenia (cats)
4. Canine Parvo Virus 2 (dogs)
In TVT cases, it was used with the chemotherapy drug and regression of the tumour was reported twice as fast.
RetroMAD1 has not shown results with Canine Distemper or Feline FIP (tried but has not worked).
It also will not help in cases where organ failure has already set in.
How does it work? RetroMAD1 blocks the virus from damaging the cells at FOUR points:
The first is an Entry Blocker where it blocks the virus from entering the cell. If this fails, it then acts as a Fusion Blocker where it prevents the virus from manufacturing RNA (which then converts into DNA. If this fails as well, it then acts as an Integration Blocker which prevents the DNA (gene virus) from linking up with the gene host to eventually form the ribosome. The ribosome is a protein factory which generates "virus parts" to make hundreds of thousands of new viruses which further destroys more cells. The fourth blocker is a Translation Blocker which prevents the formation of the ribosome.
The RetroMAD1 is a protein which is cultured and isolated from bacteria which has been injected with the relevant gene codes in order to produce the protein.
The drug is recommended to be used only on symptomatic animals. For example, Bunny and Tiger are both FIV+ but have not shown symptoms, so there is no point using it on them as one would not be able to see any results.
RetroMAD1 has not shown the ability to produce "zero reversal" yet (it does not convert a positive to a negative), but it addresses the symptoms of the diseases above and the animal is well again.
The reason it is not effective against Canine Distemper is because the molecule of the protein is too large to enter from the bloodstream into the brain, hence when the distemper virus has already entered the brain, RetroMAD1 will not be effective.
In short, the drug has been found to be very effective for FIV and FeLV in cats as well as Parvo Virus in dogs.
One of our panel vets is currently treating a young kitten infected with FIP and he was keen to try RetroMAD1 even though there has not been any success of the drug with this disease. The kitten already has a bloated abdomen which means there is organ damage already. However, Mr Huan's research scientists still gave me a vial of the RetroMAD1, which I then sent to our panel clinic for the kitten.
The drug.
The kitten.
This kitten is someone's pet and was brought to the clinic, diagnosed with FIP. It is at a critical stage, so I suppose there is no harm trying.
Should you have any cat infected with FIV, FeLV and FLV (Feline Panleukopenia), or dog infected with Canine Parvo Virus (which we all know is frighteningly deadly), you may wish to consider using RetroMAD1 alongside the conventional treatments.
We did with Brownie...and he is much better today!
Of course we cannot be sure what made Brownie better, but the point is, Brownie IS better, and that's all that matters to us.
According to Mr Huan, he has had cases where FIV+ cats were dying and were only given RetroMAD1 - they survived.
I hope the sharing above helps. Mr Huan was interviewed today, at 4pm, on BFM 89.9 about this leading edge antiviral research. I couldn't blog this on time as I was busy taking care of Karuna...
We are really thankful for what the drug can do and the promise it holds for the wellbeing of all our animal friends.
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