Targeting
hypoxia-sensitive pathways has recently been proposed as a new therapeutic approach to the treatment of intestinal
inflammation. HIF-
hydroxylases are
enzymes which confer hypoxic-sensitivity upon the
hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), a major regulator of the adaptive response to
hypoxia. Previous studies have shown that systemic (intraperitoneal) administration of
hydroxylase inhibitors such as
dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG) is profoundly protective in multiple models of
colitis, however the therapeutic potential of this approach is limited due to potential side-effects associated with systemic
drug exposure and the fact that orally delivered DMOG is ineffective (likely due to
drug inactivation by gastric acid). In order to overcome these issues, we formulated DMOG in a liquid
emulsion drug delivery system which, when coated with specific
polymer coatings, permits oral delivery of a reduced dose which is released locally throughout the colon. This colon-targeted DMOG formulation demonstrated increased relative colonic bioactivity with reduced systemic exposure and provided a similar degree of protection to systemic (intraperitoneal) administration at a 40-fold lower dose in DSS-induced
colitis. In summary, targeted delivery of DMOG to the colon provides local protection resulting in enhanced efficacy with reduced systemic exposure in the treatment of
colitis. This novel approach to targeting
hydroxylase inhibitors to specific diseased regions of the GI tract may improve it's potential as a new therapeutic in
inflammatory bowel diseases such as
ulcerative colitis.