Sepsis is a life-threatening condition in which the body’s inflammatory immune response to infection causes damage to its own organs or tissues. There are about a million cases of sepsis each year in the US alone. Sepsis is the most common cause of death in intensive care units in developed countries, and depending on the severity, can have a mortality rate ranging from 30% to 90%--a devastating rate that hasn’t changed over the last century. Presently, the only treatments available for sepsis are antibiotics, fluids, and support for organ failure. A promising new treatment approach involves the use of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors to disrupt the body’s immune response to infection can halt sepsis-related tissue damage.
Description
ALK plays a role in the regulation of innate immunity during lethal sepsis by initiating a molecular cascade that ultimately enables the signaling molecule STING (stimulator of interferon genes) to kick off the body’s inflammatory response to infection. Importantly, the ALK-STING pathway is upregulated in patients with sepsis, exacerbating already dangerous conditions. Genetic disruption of ALK expression diminishes the STING-mediated host immune response and prevents the activation of rigorous inflammatory responses. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of the ALK-STING pathway has been shown to confer protection against lethal endotoxemia and sepsis in mice, exhibits promising anti-inflammatory activity in animal models of lethal sepsis, and shows potential to be used as therapeutic agents for lethal systemic inflammatory diseases.
Applications
· Treatment of sepsis
· Treatment of other conditions and diseases resulting from overactive inflammatory or autoimmune responses, such as pancreatitis, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, migraines, eczema, or psoriasis
Advantages
· Entirely new approach to the treatment of sepsis
Invention Readiness
In vivo data
IP Status
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20190167710A1
