Withdrawal Drug Offers Symptom Relief To Crohn's Sufferers, Study Shows

[Guest guest]

I think this drug came up with regard to the vaccine for babies that would

*protect* them against drugs, didn't it?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070203103350.htm

Withdrawal Drug Offers Symptom Relief To Crohn's Sufferers, Study Shows

Science Daily — A Penn State College of Medicine pilot study suggests a low

dose of naltrexone, a drug used to ease symptoms of alcohol and drug

addiction, may also bring relief to people with Crohn's disease, a chronic

inflammatory disorder of the intestine that affects an estimated 500,000

Americans. The study results were released online this week in an early

edition of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

A team of researchers led by gastroenterologist Jill P. , M.D., and Ian

S. Zagon, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of neural and behavioral sciences,

at the College of Medicine and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center,

received NIH funding last summer to initiate a phase 2 trial of low-dose

naltrexone and Crohn's.

In the pilot study, patients with diagnosed Crohn's disease were treated

with a low dose of naltrexone and monitored for improvement of symptoms for

12 weeks. Quality of life surveys were given every four weeks for 16 weeks.

The results, published this week, show that 89 percent of participants

showed an improvement with therapy, while 67 percent achieved remission of

symptoms. The only side effect to treatment was sleep disturbance in some

patients.

Typical treatment for Crohn's involves using steroids or corticosteroids,

which suppress the immune system and can have other toxic side effects.

Treatment is often time-intensive and expensive, as well.

" This is a novel approach to treating a common disease, and it's simple,

it's safe, and it costs far less than current standards of treatment, "

said. " We don't yet know the exact mechanisms involved in how it works, but

we're working on that, as well. "

In a related study, and other College of Medicine researchers are

studying the chemical and molecular mechanisms involved in suppression of

inflammatory responses in the intestine when animals are treated with

naltrexone.

Team members on the first study include Stock, M.S.I.V.,

Bingaman, R.N. and Mauger, Ph.D., Department of Health Evaluation

Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine.

Members of the second study team include Gail L. Matters, Ph.D., and F.

Harms, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Leo

Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., Department of Surgery; and Anuj Parikh, B.S., and

Nilo, Department of Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine.

The phase 2 study of naltrexone for Crohn's is also supported by funding by

the Broad Medical Research Program.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Penn State.