Treating Cholangiopathy
Nanoparticles of N-Acetyl-Cysteine for treatment of biliary duct diseases, which may lead to serious liver damage
The bile ducts carry bile from the liver and gallbladder to the small intestine. Bile is a green to yellow-brown fluid needed for proper digestion, fats absorbance and clearing of waste from the liver. Biliary ducts diseases, generally referred to as cholangiopathies, are often cureless diseases, particularly cholangitis, and may eventually necessitate liver transplantation. Cholangitis is characterized as inflammation (swelling and redness) in the bile ducts. When the bile ducts get inflamed or blocked, bile can back up into the liver, leading to liver damage and other systemic problems. The main forms of cholangiopathies include primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), secondary cholangitis and immune cholangitis. Some types of cholangitis are mild. Other kinds can be serious and life-threatening.
Biliary stents may be used, for example, in PSC, for patients with a dominant extrahepatic biliary stricture in order to temporarily enable bile flow from the liver to the intestine, but this treatment does not cure the disease.
Inventors
Dr. Orit Waisbourd-Zinman, Schneider Children's Medical Center
Contact info
Sari Prutchi Sagiv PhD. Director of Pharma and Diagnostics
For further information please contact:
sari@mor-research.comWe are developing a novel method of treating damaged bile ducts and/or preventing or inhibiting damage in the bile ducts of a patient, by elevating glutathione (GSH) levels, restoring normal GSH levels in the biliary ducts of the patient.
We use a biodegradable delivery system that provides sustained release of NAC or its derivative L-NAC locally. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a precursor of glutathione and acts as a direct scavenging agent. In addition to its antioxidant effects, NAC exerts anti-inflammatory effects. NAC is known to exert protective effects in liver and kidney injury, for example, treatment with NAC for prevention of bile duct ligation-induced renal injury is known.