Olsalazine is an anti-inflammatory medication used in the treatment of ulcerative colitis.[2][3] It is sold under the brand name Dipentum.[4]
Olsalazine itself is a pro-drug of mesalazine (5-aminosalicyclic acid or 5-ASA) and is not absorbed in the small intestine. Instead it continues through to the colon where it is cleaved into two molecules of 5-ASA by azoreductases produced by colonic bacteria. Olsalazine thus exerts its anti-inflammatory effect by its colonic breakdown into 5-ASA which inhibits cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase thereby reducing prostaglandin and leukotriene production.[4]
History
Olsalazine gained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1990.
Supply
The drug is supplied by UCB Pharma.
Research
In 2006 the Australian biotech company Giaconda received a European patent for a combination therapy for treating constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome that uses olsalazine and the anti-gout drug colchicine, for trials the following year.[5]
References
- ^ a b "Olsalazine (Dipentum) Use During Pregnancy". Drugs.com. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ "Olsalazine--a further choice in ulcerative colitis". Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin. 28 (15): 57–8. July 1990. doi:10.1136/dtb.28.15.57. PMID 2131213. S2CID 7178709.
- ^ Wadworth AN, Fitton A (April 1991). "Olsalazine. A review of its pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties, and therapeutic potential in inflammatory bowel disease". Drugs. 41 (4): 647–64. doi:10.2165/00003495-199141040-00009. PMID 1711964. S2CID 243654426.
- ^ a b "Olsalazine Sodium 250 mg Capsules - Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) - (emc)". www.medicines.org.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ^ "Giaconda gets European patent for drug". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 December 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
