Anti-Aging Therapy using Immunoglobulins

Applications:

IgG Therapy for treating Arterial Stiffness

The Problem:

As people age, their immune system declines. Immunological dysfunction of B and T cells occurs. Serum IgG concentrations decrease drastically. As a result, aging increases inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, ushering arterial stiffening, thus, systolic hypertension, and, consequently, increased risk of cardiovascular events like myocardial infarction. Unfortunately, despite broad recognition of arterial stiffening as a clinically relevant prognostic biomarker, the current treatment methods remain limited, making it crucial to develop a formulation to reverse arterial stiffening by upregulating serum IgG levels.

Technology:

With aging comes reduced serum concentrations of IgG and IgM, immunological dysfunctions, and arterial stiffening. Investigators at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) led by Dr. Sun have identified that the downregulation of the B-cell population and serum IgG levels causes aging-associated arterial stiffening and, thus, systolic hypertension. In vivo AAV-based delivery of secreted Klotho (SKL) gene (AAV-SKL) attenuates arterial stiffening in aging mice partly via restoring B-cell population and serum IgG levels. Treatment with IgG effectively mitigates aging-associated arterial stiffening.

Benefits:

• Reduces arterial stiffness, attenuating systolic hypertension,  thus lowering the risk of age-related cardiovascular events

• Target patient base - Large aging global population
• Multiple routes of administration
• Simple, convenient, easy to use
• Easy to integrate into the workflow
• Repurposing of widely used blood product
• Multiple manufacturers of IVIG allow for more licensing opportunities.

 Market Overview:

Several companies are developing clinical immunoglobulin programs, mainly immunoglobulin G (IgG), for multiple indications like immune deficiencies. To our knowledge, Dr. Sun's groundbreaking research program is the only one of its kind using immunoglobulin G (IgG) to treat arterial stiffening. This condition has proved resistant to traditional approaches like lifestyle changes and passive treatments. By addressing this significant medical need, this IgG-based therapy has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life and reduce morbidity and mortality in older adults, as well as patients with diabetes and chronic renal disease.

Stage of Development

Preclinical research and development

Proof of Concept in vivo 

Patent: 63/347,893

Publications:     Fan J, Wang S, Chen K, Sun Z. Aging impairs arterial compliance via Klotho-mediated downregulation of B-cell population and IgG levels. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2022 Aug 24;79(9):494. doi: 10.1007/s00018-022-04512-x. PMID: 36001158.