A method for reducing activity of inflammatory immune cells by exposure to selenium. Particularly, the invention relates to a method of short-term, high dose dietary selenium supplementation for treating a subject having an inflammatory disease,...

A method for reducing activity of inflammatory immune cells by exposure to selenium. Particularly, the invention relates to a method of short-term, high dose dietary selenium supplementation for treating a subject having an inflammatory disease, particularly inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). An article of manufacture comprising a pharmaceutical composition providing a therapeutic selenium unit dosage suitable for the method of the present invention is also provided.

Treats and Prevents Inflammatory Disease and Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Categories	Inflammatory diseases
Development Stage	Ongoing research
Patent Status	Patent published in US; PCT publication number: WO 2005/023274
Market Size	The global inflammatory bowel disease market is estimated at $16 billion.

 

Highlights

• Dietary treatments are generally tolerated better and are less costly than pharmaceuticals.
• Selenium is a trace mineral important in nutrition as a cofactor of a number of metalloenzymes, especially enzymes active in scavenging free radicals and other anti-oxidant functions
• Selenium currently given to treat deficiency
• Effective treatment for chronic inflammatory conditions affecting the gastrointestinal tract, such as irritable bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and undefined colitis

Our Innovation

• High dosage of selenium for the treatment and prevention of inflammatory disease.
• Short-term dietary supplementation with high doses of selenite leads to selenite enrichment of colon tissue and prevention of mitochondrial dysfunction, colon necrosis, and inflammation.

Key Features

• Short-term, high dose selenium is used as a pharmaceutical to treat and prevent inflammatory disease, rather than just supply a deficiency
• Other inflammatory diseases that may respond well to this treatment include arthritis, CVD, artherosclerosis, inflammatory liver diseases

Development Milestones

• In negotiations with leading pharmaceutical company for IBD treatment
• Interested in collaboration to develop treatments for other diseases

The Opportunity

• Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, known collectively as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) currently affects 0.5-1% of the Western world's population, four million people worldwide.
• Since IBD is chronic and typically shows up before 30 years of age, patients generally require lifelong treatment. The IBD treatment market is projected to reach $2.3 billion by 2011.

 

project-id 6-2006-240

Early Stage

Patent published in US; PCT publication number: WO 2005/023274.