Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Designated organic active ingredient containing – Carbohydrate doai
Reexamination Certificate
1997-04-28
2001-07-03
Geist, Gary (Department: 1623)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Designated organic active ingredient containing
Carbohydrate doai
C514S062000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06255295
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions for the protection, treatment, repair and reduction of inflammation of connective tissue in humans and animals and, in particular, to compositions capable of promoting anti-inflammation, chondroprotection, chondromodulation, chondrostabilization, chondrometabolization and the repair and replacement of human and animal connective tissue.
2. Background of the Invention
The connective tissues of humans and animals are constantly subjected to stresses and strains from mechanical forces and from diseases that can result in afflictions, such as arthritis, joint inflammation and stiffness. Indeed, connective tissue afflictions are quite common, presently affecting millions of Americans. Further, such afflictions can be not only painful but, in their extreme, debilitating.
The treatment of connective tissue afflictions can be quite problematic. A simple decrease in the stress to which the connective tissue is subjected is often not an option, especially in the case of athletes and animals such as race horses. Consequently, treatment is often directed at controlling the symptoms of the afflictions and not their causes, regardless of the stage of the degenerative process.
Presently, steroids, such as corticosteroids and NSAIDs, are widely used for the treatment of these ailments. [Vidal, et al.,
Pharmocol. Res. Commun
., 10:557-569 (1978)]. However, drugs such as these, which inhibit the body's own natural healing processes, may lead to further deterioration of the connective tissue.
Connective tissue, for example articular cartilage, is naturally equipped to repair itself by manufacturing and remodeling prodigious amounts of collagen (a chief component of connective tissue such as cartilage) and proteoglycans (PGs) (the other major component of connective tissue such as cartilage). This ongoing process is placed under stress when an injury occurs. In such cases, the production of connective tissue matrix (collagen and PGs) can double or triple over normal levels, thereby increasing the demand for the building blocks of both collagens and proteoglycans.
The building blocks for collagen are amino acids, especially proline, glycine and lysine. PGs are large and complex macromolecules comprised mainly of long chains of modified sugars called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) or mucopolysaccharides. The terms GAGs and mucopolysaccharides are understood in the art to be interchangeable. PGs provide the framework for collagen formation and also hold water to give flexibility, resiliency and resistance to compression.
Like almost every biosynthetic pathway in the body, the pathways by which both collagen and GAG form single molecule precursors are quite long. As is also characteristic of other biosynthetic pathways, the pathways by which collagen and GAGs are produced include what is called a rate-limiting step—that is, one highly regulated control point beyond which there is a commitment to finish. The presence of such rate-limiting steps permits complicated biosynthetic processes to be more easily and efficiently controlled by permitting the organism to focus on one point. For example, if conditions demand production and all the requisite raw materials are in place, then stimulation of the rate-limiting step will cause the end product to be produced. To stop or slow production, the organism needs simply to regulate the rate-limiting step.
In the production of PGs, the rate-limiting step is the conversion of glucose to glucosamine for the production of GAGs. Glucosamine, an aminosugar, is the key precursor to all the various modified sugars found in GAGs, including glucosamine sulfate, galactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, etc. Glucosamine also makes up to 50% of hyaluronic acid—the backbone of PGs—on which other GAGs, like chondroitin sulfate are added. The GAGs are then used to build PGs and, eventually, connective tissue. Once glucosamine is formed, there is no turning away from the synthesis of GAG polymers.
Glucosamine has been shown to be rapidly absorbed into humans and animals after oral administration. A significant portion of the ingested glucosamine localizes to cartilage and joint tissues, where it remains for long periods. This indicates that oral administration of glucosamine reaches connective tissues, where glucosamine is incorporated into newly-synthesized connective tissue.
Glycosaminoglycans and collagen are the chief structural elements of all connective tissues. Their synthesis is essential for proper maintenance and repair of connective tissues. In vitro, the introduction of glucosamine has been demonstrated to increase the synthesis of collagen and glycosaminoglycans in fibroblasts, which is the first step in repair of connective tissues. In vivo, topical application of glucosamine has enhanced wound healing. Glucosamine has also exhibited reproducible improvement in symptoms and cartilage integrity in humans with osteoarthritis. [L. Bucci,
Nutritional Supplement Advisor
, (July 1992)].
The pathway for the production of proteoglycans may be briefly described as follows. Glucosamine is the main building block of connective tissue and may be provided either through the enzymatic conversion of glucose or through diet or external administration (see FIG.
1
). Glucosamine may be converted into the other main component of connective tissue, namely PGs, upon incorporation of glucosamine into GAGs (see FIG.
2
).
More specifically, GAGs are large complexes of polysaccharide chains associated with a small amount of protein. These compounds have the ability to bind large amounts of water, thereby producing a gel-like matrix that forms the body's ground substance. GAGs stabilize and support cellular and fibrous components of tissue while maintaining the water and salt balance of the body. The combination of insoluble protein and the ground substance forms connective tissue. For example, cartilage is rich in ground substance while tendon is composed primarily of fibers.
GAGs are long chains composed of repeating disaccharide units of monosaccharides (aminosugar-acidic sugar repeating units). The aminosugar is typically glucosamine or galactosamine. The aminosugar may also be sulfated. The acidic sugar may be D-glucuronic acid or L-iduronic acid. GAGs, with the exception of hyaluronic acid, are covalently bound to a protein, forming proteoglycan monomers. These PGs consist of a core protein to which linear carbohydrate chains formed of monosaccharides are attached. In cartilage proteoglycan, the species of GAGs include chondroitin sulfate and keratin sulfate. The proteoglycan monomers then associate with a molecule of hyaluronic acid to form PG aggregates. The association of the core protein to hyaluronic acid is stabilized by link proteins.
The polysaccharide chains are elongated by the sequential addition of acidic sugars and aminosugars, and the addition is catalyzed by a family of transferases. Aminosugars, such as glucosamine, are synthesized through a series of enzymatic reactions that convert glucose to glucosamine, or alternatively may be provided through the diet. The glucosamine is then incorporated into the GAGs as described above. Acidic sugars may be provided through the diet, may be obtained through degradation of GAGs by degradative enzymes, or produced through the uronic acid pathway.
Since repeating disaccharide units contain one aminosugar (such as glucosamine), it is clear that the presence of an aminosugar in the production of connective tissue is important. Glucosamine is, by far, the more important ingredient in the production of connective tissue since it is the essential building block of GAGs. See FIG.
1
. GAGs contain hexosamine or uronic acid derivative products of the glucose pathway and from exogenous glucosamine, for example:
Hyaluronic acid
Glucosamine + Glucuronic Acid
Keratan Sulfate
Glucosamine + Galactose
Chondroitin Sulfate
Glucuronic Acid + Galactosamine
Heparin Sulfate
Glucosamine + Glucuronic or Iduron
Hammad Tarek
Henderson Robert W.
Henderson Todd
Covington & Burling
Geist Gary
Nutramax Laboratories, Inc.
White Everett
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