RATH/PAULING U.S. PATENT # 5278189

Scientific Health Journal: RATH/PAULING U.S. PATENT # 5278189

Scientific Health Journal: RATH/PAULING U.S. PATENT # 5278189#links

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing needs in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease are met by the methods and compositions of the present invention.

A method is provided for the treatment of occlusive cardiovascular disease , comprising the step of administering to a subject an effective amount of ascorbate and one or more binding inhibitors, as a mixture or as a compound comprising ascorbate covalently linked with binding inhibitors, which inhibit the binding of Lp(a) to blood vessel walls, such as arterial walls. This effect may also be obtained by administering an effective amount of one or more inhibitors, without ascorbate. The term binding inhibitor throughout the specification and claims is intended to include all substances that have an affinity for the lysine binding site present on the interior walls of blood vessels, particularly arteries, the site of Lp(a) binding. Most of these substances compete with plasmin for the lysine binding site and some of these compounds, in high doses, are in clinical use for the treatment of hyperfibrinolytic states.

A method is further provided for the prevention of atherosclerosis comprising the step of administering to a subject an effective amount of ascorbate and one or more binding inhibitors as previously discussed but further comprising one or more antioxidants. The term antioxidant throughout the specification and the claims is intended to exclude ascorbate which has as one of its chemical properties a potent antioxidant effect.

It is thus an object of the invention to provide a method for treatment of occlusive cardiovascular disease by administering to a subject an effective amount of ascorbate and one or more binding inhibitors, or an effective amount of one or a mixture of binding inhibitors.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method for preventing o f occlusive cardiovascular disease, by administering to a subject an amount of ascorbate effective to lower the amount of Lp(a) in the plasma of the subject.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for prevention of cardiovascular disease by administering to a subject an effective amount of ascorbate and one or more binding inhibitors, or an effective amount of one or more binding inhibitors.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutically acceptable agent for the treatment of occlusive cardiovascular disease.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutically acceptable agent for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

These and other objects will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed descriptions of embodiments of the invention and the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Our invention is based in part on our discovery that animals which have lost the ability to produce ascorbate, such as higher primates and guinea pigs, uniformly produce Lp(a). Most animals which possess the ability to synthesize ascorbate generally do not produce Lp(a).

Further, we have found that ascorbate deficiency in humans and guinea pigs tends to raise Lp(a) levels and causes atherosclerosis by the deposition of Lp(a) in the arterial wall, from which we conclude that ascorbate administration lowers plasma Lp(a) levels.

We have also discovered that substances that inhibit the binding of Lp(a) to components of the arterial wall, particularly to fibrinogen, fibrin and fibrin degradation products herein identified as binding inhibitors, such as lysine or .epsilon.-aminocaproic acid used alone or in combination with ascorbate, cause release of Lp(a) from the arterial wall. Thus, ascorbate and such binding inhibitors are not only useful for the prevention of occlusive cardiovascular disease, but also for the treatment of such disease. The present invention, then, provides methods and pharmaceutical agents for the both the treatment and prevention of occlusive cardiovascular disease in vivo. 
 
For GENERAL APPLICATIONS Click Here.

 SOURCE: http://armyoflifesavers.blogspot.com/2012/10/scientific-health-journal-rathpauling.html

RATH/PAULING U.S. PATENT Cardiovascular Disease

RATH/PAULING U.S. PATENT # 5278189 

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing needs in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease are met by the methods and compositions of the present invention.

A method is provided for the treatment of occlusive cardiovascular disease , comprising the step of administering to a subject an effective amount of ascorbate and one or more binding inhibitors, as a mixture or as a compound comprising ascorbate covalently linked with binding inhibitors, which inhibit the binding of Lp(a) to blood vessel walls, such as arterial walls. This effect may also be obtained by administering an effective amount of one or more inhibitors, without ascorbate. The term binding inhibitor throughout the specification and claims is intended to include all substances that have an affinity for the lysine binding site present on the interior walls of blood vessels, particularly arteries, the site of Lp(a) binding. Most of these substances compete with plasmin for the lysine binding site and some of these compounds, in high doses, are in clinical use for the treatment of hyperfibrinolytic states.

A method is further provided for the prevention of atherosclerosis comprising the step of administering to a subject an effective amount of ascorbate and one or more binding inhibitors as previously discussed but further comprising one or more antioxidants. The term antioxidant throughout the specification and the claims is intended to exclude ascorbate which has as one of its chemical properties a potent antioxidant effect.

It is thus an object of the invention to provide a method for treatment of occlusive cardiovascular disease by administering to a subject an effective amount of ascorbate and one or more binding inhibitors, or an effective amount of one or a mixture of binding inhibitors.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method for preventing o f occlusive cardiovascular disease, by administering to a subject an amount of ascorbate effective to lower the amount of Lp(a) in the plasma of the subject.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for prevention of cardiovascular disease by administering to a subject an effective amount of ascorbate and one or more binding inhibitors, or an effective amount of one or more binding inhibitors.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutically acceptable agent for the treatment of occlusive cardiovascular disease.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutically acceptable agent for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

These and other objects will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed descriptions of embodiments of the invention and the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Our invention is based in part on our discovery that animals which have lost the ability to produce ascorbate, such as higher primates and guinea pigs, uniformly produce Lp(a). Most animals which possess the ability to synthesize ascorbate generally do not produce Lp(a).

Further, we have found that ascorbate deficiency in humans and guinea pigs tends to raise Lp(a) levels and causes atherosclerosis by the deposition of Lp(a) in the arterial wall, from which we conclude that ascorbate administration lowers plasma Lp(a) levels.

We have also discovered that substances that inhibit the binding of Lp(a) to components of the arterial wall, particularly to fibrinogen, fibrin and fibrin degradation products herein identified as binding inhibitors, such as lysine or .epsilon.-aminocaproic acid used alone or in combination with ascorbate, cause release of Lp(a) from the arterial wall. Thus, ascorbate and such binding inhibitors are not only useful for the prevention of occlusive cardiovascular disease, but also for the treatment of such disease. The present invention, then, provides methods and pharmaceutical agents for the both the treatment and prevention of occlusive cardiovascular disease in vivo. 
 
For GENERAL APPLICATIONS Click Here.

Source:  http://armyoflifesavers.blogspot.com/2012/10/scientific-health-journal-rathpauling.html


 

VITAMIN C GENE ACTIVIITY IN STEM CELLS

 Vitamin C Helps Control Gene Activity in Stem Cells

UCSF-Led Research Finding Could Lead to Improved Treatments for Cancer, In Vitro Fertilization

 Vitamin C affects whether genes are switched on or off inside mouse stem cells, suggesting that it could may play a fundamental role in helping to guide normal development in mice, humans and other animals, a team led by UC San Francisco researchers has discovered.

The researchers found that vitamin C assists enzymes that play a crucial role in releasing the brakes that keep certain genes from becoming activated in the embryo soon after fertilization, when egg and sperm fuse.
The discovery might eventually lead to the use of vitamin C to improve results of in vitro fertilization, in which early embryos now are typically grown without the vitamin. It also could help treat cancer, in which tumor cells abnormally engage or release these brakes on gene activation.

The researchers' study was published June 30 in the journal Nature.

In the near term, stem cell scientists may begin incorporating vitamin C more systematically into their procedures for growing the most healthy and useful stem cells, according to UCSF stem cell scientist Miguel Ramalho-Santos, PhD, who led the study. In fact, the unanticipated discovery emerged from an effort to compare different formulations of the growth medium, a kind of nutrient broth used to grow mouse embryonic stem cells in the lab.

A Successful Accident in the Lab

Rather than building on any previous body of scientific work, the identification of the link between vitamin C and the activation of genes that should be turned on in early development was serendipitous, Ramalho-Santos said. “We bumped into this result,” he said.

Miguel Ramalho-Santos, PhD

Working in Ramalho-Santos’ lab, graduate student Kathryn Blaschke and postdoctoral fellow Kevin Ebata, PhD, were comparing different commercial growth media for mouse stem cells. The researchers began exploring how certain ingredients altered gene activity within the stem cells. Eventually they discovered that adding vitamin C led to increased activity of key enzymes that release the brakes that can prevent activation of an array of genes.

The brakes on gene activation that vitamin C helps release are molecules called methyl groups. These methyl groups are added to DNA at specific points along the genome to prevent specific genes from getting turned on.
During the development of multicellular organisms – humans among them – different patterns of methylation arise in different cells as methyl groups are biochemically attached to DNA at specific points along the genome during successive cell divisions. Normally this gradual methylation, a key part of the developmental program, is not reversible.

But after fertilization and during early development, a class of enzymes called “Tet” acts on a wide array of the methyl groups on the DNA to remove these brakes, so that genes can be activated as needed.

The UCSF researchers demonstrated that Tet enzymes require vitamin C for optimal activity as they act to remove the methyl groups from the DNA and to stimulate gene activity that more faithfully mimics in cultured stem cells what occurs at early stages of development in the mouse embryo.
“Potential roles for vitamin C in the clinic — including in embryo culture media used during in vitro fertilization, which currently do not contain vitamin C, and in cancers driven by aberrant DNA methylation — deserve exploration,” Ramalho-Santos, said.

In addition, scientists previously have found that many adult tissues also have stem cells, which can generate a variety of cell types found within a specific tissue. This raises the possibility that vitamin C might help maintain healthy stem cell populations in the adult, according to Ramalho-Santos.
“Although we did not in this paper address the function of Vitamin C in adult tissues, given the roles that Tet enzymes are now known to play in adult tissues, we anticipate that Vitamin C might also regulate Tet function in the adult,” Ramalho-Santos said. “This remains to be determined.”

The Power of Vitamin C

Vitamin C already has become a popular supplement in recent decades, and potential health benefits of vitamin C supplementation continue to be investigated in clinical trials. It has been more than 80 years since vitamin C was first recognized as vital to prevent scurvy, a now-rare connective-tissue disease caused by the failure of another enzyme that also relies on vitamin C.

The function of vitamin C as an antioxidant to prevent chemical damage is the likely reason why some commercial suppliers of growth media have included it in their products, Ramalho-Santos said, but other antioxidant molecules cannot replace Vitamin C in the enhancement of the activity of Tet enzymes.

Despite its importance, humans, unlike most animals and plants, cannot synthesize their own Vitamin C and must obtain it through their diet. The mouse makes vitamin C, but that fact does not diminish the expectation that the new findings will also apply to human development, according to Ramalho-Santos. Only adult liver cells in the mouse make vitamin C, he said.

Ramalho-Santos now aims to explore the newly discovered phenomenon in the living mouse. “The next step is to study vitamin C and gene expression in vivo,” he said.

The UCSF group led a team effort that included researchers from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, California. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

Source:  http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2013/07/107246/vitamin-c-helps-control-gene-activity-stem-cells