Sterculic Acid Treatment for Choroidal Neovascularization

Sterculic acid is a naturally occurring cyclopropene acid present in kapok seed oil, cottonseed oil, and in the seeds of the Sterculia foetida tree.   Sterculic acid has been reported to be a non-specific inhibitor of stearoyl-Co desaturase (SCD), which has been implicated in several disease states, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, skin disease, hypertension, neurological diseases, immune disor ders and cancer (see also Ntambi JM, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40(9):1549-1558). Investigators at TheNational Eye Institute (NEI) Laboratory of Retinal Cell and Molecular Biology discovered that sterculic acid inhibits the neovascularization of the chick chorioallantonic membrane demonstrating that this compound exhibits a potent anti-angiogenic activity.   Further, the NIH investigators have shown that sterculic acid inhibits the formation of choroidal neovacularization in the retina of laser treated rats. These results suggest that sterculic acid possesses anti-angiogenic effect likely through regulating genes involved in the angiogenic process.  The present invention is directed to methods of using sterculic acid for the treatment of inflammation, in particular, 7-ketocholesterol mediated inflammation, 7-ketocholesterol cytotoxicity, or unregulated angiogenesis.   Diseases mediated by 7-ketocholesterol-induced inflammation and 7-ketocholesterol cytotoxicity include atherosclerosis age-related macular degeneration, and Alzheimer ' s d...
Source: NIH OTT Licensing Opportunities - Category: Research Authors: Source Type: research