AI Article Synopsis
- Wilson's disease is a genetic disorder that leads to harmful copper build-up in the body, mainly affecting the liver and nervous system, and current treatments have unpleasant side effects.
- Researchers developed a new therapy using chemically modified biopolymer carriers (microcrystalline cellulose and chitosan) that contain a copper-specific chelator, 8-hydroxyquinoline, which helps remove excess copper from the body during digestion.
- Testing on Wistar rats showed that these modified polymer carriers effectively blocked copper absorption from food, keeping copper primarily in the gastrointestinal tract and reducing its harmful effects on internal organs.
Article Abstract
Wilson's disease is a genetic disorder that causes excessive accumulation of copper in the body, leading to toxic damage, especially in the liver and nervous system. The current treatment cause burdensome side effects. We describe the use of chemically modified biopolymer carriers based on microcrystalline cellulose and chitosan containing the highly specific copper chelator 8-hydroxyquinoline as a new type of therapy for Wilson's disease. The chelators can scavenges copper ions released from food during digestion and copper ions present in secretions in the gastrointestinal tract. Because the chelator is covalently bound to indigestible biopolymer carriers (crosslinked chitosan or modified cellulose), it is not taken up by the gastrointestinal tract and it can be eliminated through the feces, avoiding unwanted side effects. This concept was tested on Wistar rats, which received a radioactive CuCl solution together with the polymers with covalently bound 8-hydroxyquinoline through a gastric probe. Copper complex uptake from the gastrointestinal tract was significantly inhibited by both chelating polymers. With the modified polymers, the presence of Cu was detected mostly in the gastrointestinal tract, not in the internal organs. These findings indicate modified cellulose and crosslinked chitosan, with covalently bound 8-hydroxyquinoline exhibited the potential to be excellent therapeutics for treating Wilson's disease.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2018.01.026 | DOI Listing |
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