JPH0149129B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a therapeutic agent for leukemia, and more particularly, to a therapeutic agent for leukemia comprising a healthy human blood product containing lymphocytes of biological origin and lysolecithin.

Conventional chemotherapy drugs or steroid hormones have been used as medical treatments for leukemia, but they have strong side effects that sometimes make long-term administration impossible, and sometimes lead to unfortunate outcomes due to lack of efficacy or side effects. There are quite a few. Both pantethine and lecithin according to the present invention have very few side effects and can provide an effective treatment method (agent) for leukemia.

That is, the present invention shows that cell-dependent immune capacity is involved in the elimination of tumor cells by the living body, that this immune capacity is reduced in leukemia patients, and that cell-dependent immunity In view of the fact that lymphocytes, which play a major role in this function, express their effects through cell fusion with leukemia cells, the present inventor has developed a method to increase the cell fusion property of lymphocytes in healthy human blood and use this blood to This work was completed by focusing on the treatment of leukemia. That is, the present inventors have discovered that healthy human blood strongly deforms and destroys white blood cells in the presence of lysolecithin, a biological substance that promotes cell fusion, and has developed the present invention by applying this effect to the treatment of leukemia. It is completed.

That is, the present invention provides a therapeutic agent for leukemia comprising pantethine or a blood product from a healthy individual collected 1 to 4 hours after administration of pantethine and lecithin.

A more detailed explanation will be given below based on experimental examples.

The blood of a healthy person (a 52-year-old man) used in the experiment had blood type B and a white blood cell count of 8300, of which lymphocytes were
On the other hand, the blood of a chronic myeloid leukemia patient (a 79-year-old woman) has blood type B and a white blood cell count of 25,700, of which leukemia cells account for 91%.
Lymphocytes account for 4%. The following experiment was conducted using these.

Experiment 1 Only the blood of a leukemia patient was incubated at 37°C for 2 hours and then stained. Among the leukemia cells, deformed and destroyed cells were searched under a microscope, but no cells were found.

Experiment 2: Add 25μ of lysolecithin to the blood of leukemia patients.
It was confirmed that 5% of the leukemia cells were deformed and destroyed when it was added at a rate of 1.3 g/ml, kept at 37° C. for 2 hours, and observed in the same manner as in Experiment 1.

Experiment 3 Blood from healthy people and blood from leukemia patients 1:1
The mixture was mixed at a ratio of 100% and kept at 37°C for 2 hours, and then observed in the same manner as in Experiment 1. It was confirmed that 29% of the leukemia cells had been destroyed.

Experiment 4 Blood from healthy people and blood from leukemia patients 1:1
Lysolecithin 25μg/ml mixed with
As a result of similar observation, the addition of
It was confirmed that 79% were deformed and destroyed.

In other words, the results of Experiment 4 showed that in the presence of lysolecithin, lymphocytes from healthy individuals effectively fused with leukemia cells, strongly deformed and destroyed the leukemia cells, and
It is shown to eliminate tumor cells. However, because lysolecithin has a strong hemolytic effect,
It cannot be administered to humans as is. Therefore, the present inventor separately focused on the fact that by administering pantethine or a combination of pantethine and lecithin to healthy individuals, the body itself increases lysolecithin within the body's tolerance range, and has successfully applied this effect to the treatment of leukemia. It is.

This will be explained below with reference to examples.

Example 1 1000mg of pantethine and 20ml of xylitol in a healthy person
The blood was collected 2 hours later, mixed with the blood of a leukemia patient at a ratio of 1:1, and kept warm at 37°C for 2 hours. As a result of the same observation as in the experimental example, leukemia was detected. It was confirmed that 74% of the cells were deformed and destroyed.

This indicates that administration of pantethine increases the activity of lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase, an enzyme in the body, which produces lysolecithin in the body (Special Publication No. 55-2279). This promotes fusion with cells and indicates that leukemia cells have been deformed and destroyed.

Example 2 5 g of lecithin was orally administered to a healthy person at the same time as intravenous administration of pantethine, and blood collected 2 hours later was mixed with the blood of a leukemia patient at a ratio of 1:1. As a result of observation, leukemia cells that had been deformed and destroyed were It reached 89%. This means that lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase activity, which is an enzyme in the body, increases and lecithin, which is a substrate for this enzyme, is present, so more lysolecithin is produced.
This shows that cell fusion was more strongly promoted.

From the above results, the blood of healthy people administered with pantethine alone or in combination with pantethine and lecithin has the effect of strongly deforming and destroying leukemia cells, and therefore, it is recommended that this blood of healthy people be transfused to leukemia patients. It is certain that leukemia can be treated with this method.

The amount and frequency of blood transfusion during treatment varies depending on the patient's symptoms, but it is usually 250 to 500 ml/time for adults,
It is expected to be effective after several doses.

The dosage of pantethine for achieving the purpose of the present invention is 1,000 mg intravenously, and the amount of lecithin is 1,000 mg.
However, there are individual differences, and for pantethine, the dosage should be adjusted as appropriate to about 2000 mg or less from the amount normally used for the treatment of lipid metabolism disorders. The amount should be adjusted as appropriate to 7.5 g or less from the amount used for the treatment of arteriosclerosis. or,
There are no particular limitations on the route of administration for both substances, such as oral or injection routes, and there is no difference from normal drug administration.

When pantethine or pantethine and lecithin is administered to a healthy person, lysolecithin is produced in the body, and the blood concentration of lysolecithin reaches its maximum 1 to 4 hours, especially 2 to 3 hours after administration, so blood should be collected at this time. .

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Pantethine or pantethine and lecithin administration 1
A leukemia therapeutic agent consisting of blood products from healthy individuals collected after ~4 hours. 2. The therapeutic agent for leukemia according to claim 1, wherein the blood product contains lymphocytes derived from a living body and lysolecithin as active ingredients.