16/07/2000
ReGen Therapeutics is developing a therapy for Alzheimer’s disease based on Colostrinin, a natural product based on colostrum, mammals’ first milk after the birth of an offspring. ReGen’s technology is base on ovine (sheep’s) colostrum which is known to have immunomodulatory functions that protect a newborn against a variety of diseases.
ReGen Therapeutics Plc is listed on the Alternative Investment Market in London.
Colostrinin
Colostrinin is a proline-rich polypeptide complex isolated from ovine colostrum in 1974 by a group of scientists working in Poland. Colostrum is mammals’ first milk after birth of offspring and has immunomodulatory functions that protect a newborn against a variety of diseases. Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by the accumulation of abnormal protein fibrils, including senile plaques, causing selective neuronal loss in the central nervous system. The primary components of senile plaques are insoluble aggregates of a peptide called amyloid beta. In addition, an abnormal level of iron is witnessed in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients. This is thought to be oxidised in the brain, giving rise to free radicals which then go on to damage cells.
In laboratory trials, Colostrinin has been shown to promote the scavenging of free radicals in brain tissue, induce IFN Gamma which inhibits amyloid beta formation and to promote the differentiation and regeneration of human brain cells.