New Therapy in Development for Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation

Innovative bilayered capsules can overcome current challenges for delivering drugs to the colon and relieve abdominal pain linked to irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C).

Novel bi-layered delivery system has the potential to decrease cramping and provide constipation relief. The findings are published in the journal Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology.

Proper upgrade in treatment is required for patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). Rapid-release, cramp-inducing portions of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDC) have earlier shown promise in treating constipation, but further development has been hindered by the abdominal pain linked to the sudden release of CDC.

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‘Innovative bilayered capsules can overcome current challenges for delivering drugs to the colon and relieve abdominal pain tied to irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. ’

Researchers devised a plan to release CDC in a bilayered capsule, finding that this mode of delivery could reduce colon cramping and thus provide a better patient experience.

"We know bile acids are competent in helping with motility, but what has been endeavored in the past is giving a bolus a boatload of bile acid all at once. This displays in increased bowel movements, but also pain," stated Giovanni Traverso, MD, Ph.D. "Could we take this endogenous, natural product and deliver it in a method that overcomes this risk of contractions?"

The liver produces bile acids to assist in the digestive process, regulating intestinal motility, fluid homeostasis, and humoral activity. Bile acids, such as pro-motility CDC, have been previously analyzed in patients for their pro-motility effects and recognized to improve water ingression and bowel motility. The challenge has been how to administer these in ways that lessen potential side effects; to achieve this, researchers developed a bi-layered delivery system.

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This biphasic release of CDC established a low-dose, long-lasting bile acid presence over time, dodging the dosage spike and reducing cramping.

Within the next 18 months, clinical trials will start for the bilayered delivery of CDC to IBS-C patients, with pill production regulated by the team's newly founded Bilayer Therapeutics.

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"While further studies are necessary to confirm the therapeutic potential of these systems in humans, our findings hint that controlled delivery of bile acids to the colon may represent a novel way to treating gastrointestinal diseases such as constipation," stated co-author Joshua Korzenik, MD.

Source-Medindia

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