This technology features a pharmaceutical composition for the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia and fatty liver, as well as a food composition for improvement, containing peptides of SEQ ID NO: 1 or 2 derived from the adipokine LGI3 protein secreted by adipose tissue. In animal models, it has been shown to effectively reduce blood cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), liver triglycerides, and liver cholesterol.
While statins dominate over half the market for hyperlipidemia treatment, they are associated with various side effects. For fatty liver, there is a significant unmet need as no clear treatment exists beyond lifestyle changes, often leading to the off-label use of diabetes medications or hepatoprotective agents. Furthermore, LGI3 is a large protein of 548 amino acids (approx. 60 kDa), making direct human application difficult, and its potential for treating hyperlipidemia and fatty liver through activity modulation was previously unknown.
Instead of using the large protein, this technology utilizes LGI3-derived peptides suitable for human application to modulate LGI3 bioactivity, targeting various fatty liver diseases ranging from simple fatty liver to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), liver fibrosis, and cirrhosis. It can be applied as a statin alternative or combination therapy for hyperlipidemia, a drug candidate for NASH, or a health functional food for cholesterol management. This offers a peptide-based metabolic disease treatment option that lowers both blood and liver lipids while reducing the burden of side effects associated with existing therapies.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Education for research on the in vivo activity modulation of the cytokine LGI3.
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