Source: DGNews  |  Posted 9 years ago

By Andrew Bowser
Special to DG News

SEATTLE, WA -- October 24, 2002 -- Coherin, a peptide complex isolated from cow or pig pituitary gland, may induce remission and clinical response in patients with active Crohn's disease, according to results of a 117-patient study.

The findings, presented here October 22 at the 67th annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), confirm results seen in a 19-patient pilot trial conducted in the 1970s, according to Gary R. Lichtenstein, MD, associate professor of medicine at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

"[The peptide] should be investigated in a larger-scale randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial," Dr. Lichtenstein said.

Patients in the study, treated between 1980 and 1990, had long-standing refractory disease, and had failed what was standard therapy at the time. They were treated for up to 24 months. Complete data is available for 62 of the patients.

Clinical remission of Crohn's disease was seen in 16 percent of these poor-prognosis patients after one month of treatment, and 32 percent at six months. Clinical response was seen in about 80 percent of patients at both time points.

There was also a significant decrease in steroid use, with the mean daily steroid dose dropping from 22.7 mg at onset to 12.3 mg at six months.

Researchers are not sure how Coherin peptides work, but they appear to affect inflammation, intestinal motility, visceral pain and gastrointestinal secretion/absorption, Dr. Lichtenstein said. The peptide has no known drug interactions and no significant side effects.

One limitation of the study is that Coherin was not compared to placebo. However, the peptide is about to be evaluated in a prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled study. "The hope is that we will be starting shortly," Dr. Lichtenstein concluded.