Akari is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing inhibitors of acute and chronic inflammation, specifically for the treatment of rare and orphan diseases, in particular those where the complement (C5) or
leukotriene (LTB4) systems, or both complement and
leukotrienes together, play a primary role in disease progression.
Leukotrienes activate by binding to G protein-coupled receptors present on the surfaces of airway cells.
When activated, mast cells release many inflammatory mediators as histamine, proteases, prostaglandins,
leukotrienes and cytokines (3).
Specifically, the scientists looked at the relationship between tau proteins and molecules known as
leukotrienes, which can cause damage to nerve cells as brain diseases develop.
The researchers landed on their breakthrough after discovering that inflammatory molecules known as
leukotrienes are deregulated in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Unlike NSAIDS, which block only prostaglandins, glucocorticoids not only inhibit prostaglandins but also thromboxanes and
leukotrienes.14 Prednisolone inhibits phospholipase A2 and decrease
leukotriene and prostaglandin synthesis, reducing chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear leukocytes.
In 1979 substances called
leukotrienes were discovered to be the principal cause of the symptoms of allergic and inflammatory conditions.
Inflammation itself arises from myriad etiologic pathways, with multiple inflammatory mediators potentially involved, including histamines, cytokines, eicosanoids (for example, prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and
leukotrienes), complement cascade components, kinins, fibrinopeptide enzymes, nuclear factor-kappa B, and free radicals.
AZD9898 could enable us to offer a new personalised treatment for patients whose condition is driven by the dysregulation of
leukotrienes, said Marcus Schindler, Vice President of AstraZeneca's Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmunity Innovative Medicines Unit.
The
leukotrienes (LTs) are lipid mediators belonging to a large family of molecules named eicosanoids--from the Greek word "eicosa" meaning 20--as they are generated from the arachidonic acid (AA), a carbon-20 polyunsaturated fatty acid, through the 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) pathway [1,2].
The products of this "uncontrolled arachidonic acid cascade" include prostaglandins, thromboxanes and
leukotrienes. Levels of prostaglandin, and
leukotriene [B.sub.4] and [C.sub.4] are increased in the hippocampus of epileptic patients and in the cerebrospinal fluid of children with febrile seizures (6,7).