02/DEC/14
NEURON BIO PATENTS A NEW DIAGNOSIS METHOD FOR THE SMITH-LEMLI-OPITZ SYNDROME (SLOS)
Neuron Bio has registered an application with the Spanish Patents and Trademarks Office (OEPM) to patent a new diagnosis method for people affected with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) determining levels of different blood markers related to the disease.
SLOS is a rare, inherited disease associated to an inborn error of the biosynthesis from cholesterol caused by a deficiency of the 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase. This childhood disease affects one in 40,000 newborns and produces mental retardation, brain and other organs abnormalities, decreased muscle tone and delayed growth. Life expectancy of these children is limited because one in four children does not live past the age of four.
The interest of Neuron Bio in this disease is thus in line with the study of cholesterol levels alteration in the nervous system, a target shared with neurodegenerative diseases related to the aging, as in the Alzheimer’s disease, in which Neuron Bio has been working since its beginning.
The patent application by Neuron Bio identifies a significant inflammatory profile in children
affected with SLOS and particularly three markers with diagnostic ability to identify this infant syndrome. These results allow proposing the use of potential anti-inflammatory in the treatment of patients affected with this rare disease, as well as the use of the three markers for the diagnosis and follow-up of SLOS suffering people via easy blood determinations.
Moreover, the determination of these biomarkers may suggest new therapeutic targets in the search of drugs for the treatment of this pediatric pathology.
This is the first patent application of the company in the diagnosis area of the central nervous systems diseases. It is the result of the work carried out in recent years by Neuron Bio in collaboration with different health institutions and Spanish universities.
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