Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease With 2-Methylene-19-Nor-Vitamin D Compounds

Abstract

A method of preventing and / or treating inflammatory bowel disease, particularly ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, is disclosed. The method involves administering a 2-methylene-19-nor-vitamin D compound in an amount effective to treat the disease. The administration of a 2-methylene-19-nor-vitamin D compound also prevents the development of or delays the onset of inflammatory bowel disease in susceptible individuals. The preferred compounds are 1α-hydroxy-2-methylene-19-nor-homopregnacalciferol and 2-methylene-19-nor-20(S)-1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.

Description

[0001]This application is a division of Ser. No. 10 / 680,881 filed Oct. 8, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. ______.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to vitamin D compounds, and more particularly to the use of 2-methylene-19-nor-vitamin D compounds to prevent and / or treat inflammatory bowel disease.[0003]The natural hormone, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and its analog 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D2 are known to be highly potent regulators of calcium homeostasis in animals and humans, and their activity in cellular differentiation has also been established, Ostrem et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 84, 2610 (1987). Many structural analogs of these metabolites have been prepared and tested, including 1α-hydroxyvitamin D3, 1α-hydroxyvitamin D2, various side chain homologated vitamins and fluorinated analogs. Some of these compounds exhibit an interesting separation of activities in cell differentiation and calcium regulation. This difference in activity may be useful in the treatme...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]The present invention provides new vitamin D analogs that can prevent and / or treat IBD. The present invention is thus directed toward a method of preventing inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in susceptible individuals and treating patients with IBD by administering an amount of a 2-methylene-19-nor-vitamin D compound, preferably either la-hydroxy-2-methylene-19-nor-homopregnacalciferol (hereinafter referred to as “2-MP”) or 2-methylene-19-nor-20(S)-1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (hereinafter referred to as “2-MD”), or a combination of both, effective to prevent IBD development or to diminish IBD symptoms, respectively. 2-MP is substantially non-calcemic and 2-MD can be used at such a low dose that hypercalcemia does not result thus avoiding the primary disadvantage of 1,25(OH)2D3. The method comprises selecting an IBD patient and administering a sufficient amount of the vitamin D analog to the patient such that the IBD symptoms are abated.

Problems solved by technology

Dietary intake of vitamin D is problematic since there are few foods which are naturally rich in vitamin D. Weight loss occurs in 65-75% of patients diagnosed with Crohn's disease and 18-62% of patients with ulcerative colitis (Fleming 1995, Geerling et al.

However, hypercalcemia can be a significant problem when 1,25(OH)2D3 is used to treat IBD.

Prednisone and other corticosteroid therapies result in a decreased bone mineral density and many times result in higher risks for vertebral fracture (Andreassen et al.

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