The application relates generally to pharmaceuticals for treating inflammatory diseases, and more particularly to medicaments for treating inflammatory diseases, for example, respiratory diseases including asthma.
Asthma bronchiale is an inflammatory respiratory disease which is accompanied by an increased sensibility of the respiratory channels for various stimuli and a reversible bronchial constriction. The airway epithelium is the first tissue layer to encounter environmental stimuli such as inhaled allergens or microbes and plays a pivotal role in the inflammatory network seen in airways during asthma attacks. The evolution of asthma is primarily based on the inflammation of the bronchial mucous membrane, where mast cells, T-lymphocytes, granulocytes, and inflammation mediators like, e.g., histamine are considered to be seriously involved. Upon exposure to a stimulant, the epithelial cells by themselves will express and release a variety of inflammatory mediators which act in a paracrine, autocrine or endocrine fashion to propagate the disease development. Increased IL-6 and IL-8 production has been reported in airway epithelial cells from patients with bronchial asthma. Recently it has been demonstrated that activation of the nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), which is constitutively expressed in bronchial epithelial cells, dramatically inhibits production of inflammatory mediators, suggesting that PPARγ may act as a negative immunomodulator in the airways by protecting non-lymphoid tissue from cytokine-mediated events associated with immune stimulation. Similar to other steroid hormone receptors, PPARγ requires activation by a ligand in order to modulate gene expression by interacting with specific DNA response elements located upstream of responsive genes encoding for inflammatory mediators.
People suffering from asthma show a bronchial hypersensitivity in the early phase of disease which means that the bronchial system reacts with contraction and an overproduction of slime even in case of rather weak and usually neutral stimuli. The dominant role in the pathogenesis of the asthma bronchiale is a spontaneous reaction of type I which is mediated by antibodies of the IgE type. Said antibodies recognise specific allergenic compounds as invaders, form complexes with said allergens in order to stimulate mast cells to degranulate and to emit messenger compounds like, e.g., histamine. These so-called mediators start a chain of reaction and effect an endobronchial obstruction by
As a result the respiratory system becomes blocked and the patient suffers from not getting enough breath. Besides the IgE-mediated spontaneous Type I reaction which usually occurs after a couple of minutes after the stimulation, further allergic reactions are possible even after some hours. It is known that some patients show both types of reaction. Although usually one allergen is responsible for an attack in the beginning of an allergic asthma, however, in the course of the disease other allergenic factors may become important, too, so that a prophylaxis by eliminating potential allergenic factors becomes rather difficult.
Besides bronchial dilatarding agents, asthma therapy uses anti-inflammatory medicaments:
Therefore, it has been an object of the present invention, particularly with respect to the increasing number of resistances and the need for increasing the number of technical means, to identify new compounds which simultaneously inhibit cell proliferation and expression of cytokines, and which show an anti-inflammatory effect in order to fight diseases of the respiratory system and to develop a new medicament which is useful to prevent and to fight spontaneous asthma attacks or at least spend relief, mainly during the sleeping phase.
Briefly described, in one aspect of the invention, a medicament comprising the cis-9, trans-11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid for treating inflammatory diseases is provided. The medicament may act against the hypersensitivity of the bronchia. The inflammatory disease may be a respiratory disease, including a rheumatic disease. The rheumatic disease may include asthma.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for inhibiting the proliferation of human or animal cells of the immune systems involved in an immune response includes administering the cis-9, trans-11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid to a patient in need thereof. A technical grade of the cis-9, trans-11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid may be administered, and which includes an amount of at least 30% by weight based on the total weight of the conjugated linoleic acid. The acyl moiety of the technical grade cis-9, trans-11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid includes at most 30% by weight of trans-10,cis-12 isomers, and in total less than 1% by weight of 8,10-11,13 and trans,trans isomers based on the total content of conjugated linoleic acid. The cis-9, trans-11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid may be administered sub-cutaneously, intramuscularly, per inhalation, per infusionem, topically or orally to a patient in need thereof, and may also be incorporated into a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier
In another aspect of the invention, a composition for the treatment of asthma includes the cis-9, trans-11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a nutritional, functional food, or dietary supplement includes the cis-9, trans-11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid, and may be administered in amounts of from 0.05 to 5 grams per day.
According to an aspect of the invention, the cis-9, trans-11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid for the production of a medicament for treating inflammatory diseases and for a nutritional, functional food or dietary supplemental agent is provided.
Surprisingly it has been found in vitro that the cis-9,trans-11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid—compared to other CLA isomers in general and, more specifically, compared to non-conjugated linoleic acid—
The inhibition of cell proliferation, particularly the proliferation of cells of the immune systems involved in immune response and specific cytokine expression, preferably within cells of the bronchial system or the cartilage tissue of the joints, are accompanied by an anti-inflammatory effect which one can use for fighting
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) represents a commercially available process which usually is obtained by base-catalysed isomerisation of sunflower oil or their respective alkyl esters and subsequent isomerisation in the presence of enzymes. CLA is an acronym used for positional and geometric isomers deriving from the essential fatty acid linoleic acid (LA, cis-9,cis-12-octadecadienoic acid, 18:2n-6). Soon after its initial isolation from grilled ground beef in 1987, CLA was found to exercise pleiotropic beneficial effects spanning from chemoprotection of carcinogenesis, atherosclerosis, and diabetes to inflammation. CLA has several structural and functional properties that are different from those of all-cis-nonconjugated polyunsaturated fatty acids. Namely, the non-methylene interrupted double bond system seems to be decisive for modulating cellular processes that might lead to the observed effects. Emerging evidence has indicated that individual CLA isomers act differently in the biological systems and contribute differently in their beneficial or potential side effects. The cis-9,trans-11 CLA-isomer was most efficacious in inhibiting the growth of cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, trans-10,cis-12 CLA was observed to have a greater impact on lipid metabolism and adipogenesis. Recently, several studies have demonstrated the ability of CLA to reduce levels of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids such as prostaglandins of the 2-series. Until now, however, there is no specific way to predict the properties of certain isomers, therefore, the identification of new applications and uses is still a question of trial and error. From a physiological point of view the use of the cis-9,trans-11 isomer according to the present invention is of special importance having at least 30, preferably at least 50 and most preferably at least 80% b.w. of said cis-9,trans-11 isomer—calculated on the total CLA content of the crude mixture. In addition, it has been found advantageous if the content of the trans-10,cis-12 isomer is at most 45, preferably at most 10% b.w. and most preferably is less than 1% b.w., and the sum of 8,10-, 11,13- and trans,trans-isomers in total is less than 1% b.w.—again calculated on the total CLA content. Such products can be found in the market for example under the trademark Tonalin CLA-80 (Cognis). Usually, the daily dosage of CLA is 0.05 to 5, preferably 2.0 to 4 g/day.
cis-9,trans-11 CLA or a respective medicament comprising said CLA isomer are usually applied either sub-cutaneously, intramuscularly, per inhalation, per infusionem or orally—the latter for example in form of a dietary supplement, e.g. in form of a liquid composition or a capsule—or inhaled as a spray. Beside this, a topical application—especially for fighting rheumatic pains—is also possible.
The invention is further illustrated by the following examples, which are not intended to limit the scope thereof.
To establish the effects of cis-9,trans-11-CLA in comparison to LA on proliferation of stimulated normal (NHBE) and transformed human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B), cells grown in medium containing 5 μg LPS/mL and 10% serum from allergic donors and supplemented with either cis-9,trans-11-CLA or LA at different concentrations were harvested after 24 h and cell numbers determined. Exposure of cells to the indicated stimuli without any fatty acid (control+) caused a markedly enhanced proliferation compared with the unstimulated control in both BEAS-2B (by 12.9±3.5%) and NHBE (by 12.6±3.2%). Incubation with 20 μg/mL, 10 μg/mL and 5 μg/mL cis-9,trans-11-CLA significantly prevented the stimuli-induced increase dose-dependent significantly (p<0.05) in BEAS-2B for all tested concentrations (by 32.7±5.0%, 19.3±5.0% and 7.9±5.1%, respectively) and in NHBE for 20 μg and 10 μg cis-9,trans-11-CLA/mL (by 17.4±2.8% and 15.4±3.6%). Treatment with LA under identical conditions led to a small and not significant inhibition of proliferation after 24 h using the maximal concentration (by 4.7±6.9% in BEAS-2B and 8.4±2.1% in NHBE). At lower concentrations, LA caused cell growth. Modulation of proliferation by the isomer was significantly different from that seen in LA-treated BEAS-2B, for all concentrations. The results are shown in
IL-6 and IL-8 secretion was examined by ELISA in culture supernatants of BEAS-2B and NHBE after 24 h of incubation with different concentrations of either cis-9,trans-11-CLA or LA in stimuli-containing medium. Basal cytokine expression in both cell lines was low. However, in the presence of 5 μg LPS and 10 serum secretion of both cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 significantly increased. In BEAS-2B, the basal cytokine expression was approximately 2.6-fold higher for IL-8 and 5.9-fold higher for IL-6 in the presence of the indicated stimuli (
In Table 1, all results are summarized. The percentage of inhibition of stimuli-induced cytokine release is comparatively higher than that seen for proliferation. By representing production of interleukins/100.000 cells, fatty acid-specific differences become distinct: all tested concentrations of cis-9,trans-11-CLA were more efficacious in inhibiting secretion of IL-6 compared with the corresponding LA-treatments. With regard to IL-8 release, the dose-dependent effects are less clear: in BEAS-2B only the highest concentration of the isomer, and in NHBE the middle and the lowest concentration, had a higher depressing effect on IL-8 production than LA.
Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using cyclophilin RNA as internal standard was performed after 4 h and 12 h of incubation of cells without (c+) or with either 20 μg/mL cis-9,trans-11-CLA or LA in stimuli-containing medium. PCR reaction products were separated by flat bed electrophoresis, stained with ethidium bromide, recorded using a geldocumentation-system and analysed densitometrically. The effect of CLA on IL-6 and IL-8 protein levels paralleled mRNA levels. Compared with stimulated control (c+) the mRNA accumulation of both cytokines after the period of stimulation was found to be diminished by the isomer, whereas LA had no effect. Outcomes are presented in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10332712.6 | Jul 2003 | DE | national |
This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/565,135 filed on Dec. 18, 2006 which is a 35 U.S.C. §371 filing of PCT application PCT/EP2003/014592, filed Dec. 19, 2003, which claims priority from German Application No. 103 32 712.6, filed on Jul. 18, 2003, the entire specifications of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10565135 | Dec 2006 | US |
Child | 12701971 | US |