Composition for preventing or improving peripheral neuropathy

Abstract

Compositions which contain an amino acid containing serine and a lipid containing a n-3 fatty acid are useful for the prophylaxis or improvement of peripheral neuropathy.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT / JP2015 / 062092, filed on Apr. 21, 2015, and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-088051, filed on Apr. 22, 2014, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to compositions which are useful for the prophylaxis or improvement of peripheral neuropathy. The present invention also relates to methods for the prophylaxis or improvement of peripheral neuropathy.[0004]Discussion of the Background[0005]Pain is classified into “neuropathic”, “nociceptive”, and “psychogenic” pain, and these three types of pain act independently or compositely to cause a pain. “Neuropathic” pain easily becomes chronic, and shows different characteristics from “nociceptive” pain including many acute pains (e.g., injury, burn, etc.). Acute pain, which follo...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016]Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide novel compositions having a prophylactic or improvement effect on peripheral neuropathy.

[0049]According to the present invention, the composition for the prophylaxis or improvement of peripheral neuropathy can be provided. Particularly, the composition provides an effect of relieving peripheral neuropathic pain, and is useful for peripheral neuropathy due to administration of anticancer agents, peripheral neuropathy due to knee osteoarthritis, backbone neuropathy (e.g., hernia of intervertebral disk, lumbar spinal stenosis, spondylosis deformans etc.), peripheral neuropathy due to mechanical compression of peripheral nerve trunk, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, renal disease uremic peripheral neuropathy, peripheral neuropathy due to herpes zoster and Guillain-Barre syndrome and the like. The composition can also prevent or improve activity decline due to peripheral neuropathy. Furthermore, since the composition contains serine and n-3 fatty acid with established safety as active ingredients, it can be ingested safely for a long term, and can enhance the QOL of the subject who ingests.

Problems solved by technology

Loss of muscle strength, aging, obesity, and the like in elderly people triggers a decrease in the function of knee joint, which in turn induces loose engagement, deformation and rupture of knee cartilage and meniscus.

In many of these cases, over-retention of synovial fluid occur due to inflammation and causes pain.

It induces looseness, deformation or rupture of engagement in the waist part, which often accompanies chronic pain.

Particularly, pain caused by chemotherapy often forces the chemotherapy to be stopped, and pain in the chemotherapy forms a large obstacle to the cancer treatment (see Folia Pharmacol. Jpn., 136, p275-279 (2010) which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).

Peripheral neuropathic pain is being treated systematically with opioid central analgesics such as morphine and the like; steroid; non-steroidal antiphlogistic analgesic; vitamin and the like; however, the side effects are strong and a sufficient effect is not obtained (see Neurological Therapeutics, vol.

However, all of these reports are in vitro evaluations in the initial process of nerve cell development, and the situation is vastly different from that of peripheral neuropathy after formation of nerve cell.

On the other hand, while eicosapentaenoic acid among n-3 fatty acids is already in clinical use as a hypertriglyceridemia improving agent, there is no clear clinical report relating to pain relief.

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