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Kalytera Announces Data Further Elucidating CBD’s Mechanisms of Action in Prevention of GVHD
Kalytera Announces Data Further Elucidating CBD’s Mechanisms of Action in Prevention of GVHD.
About this update from Claritas Pharmaceuticals Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nSAN FRANCISCO and TEL AVIV, Israel, May 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kalytera Therapeutics, Inc. (TSX VENTURE: KLY and OTCQB: KALTF) (the \"Company\" or \"Kalytera\") today announced new laboratory findings demonstrating that cannabidiol (“CBD”) acts through a distinct biological pathway to restore epithelial cell tight junction integrity, which is highly important in preventing acute graft versus host disease (“GVHD”) and associated comorbidities.\n Acute GVHD is a life-threatening complication commonly occurring after bone marrow transplant procedures. Prior to the bone marrow transplant, patients typically undergo a total body irradiation (“TBI”) procedure. The TBI procedure damages the patient’s epithelial cells, including those that line the GI tract. This damage breaks down the tight junction barrier that healthy epithelial cells provide. This loss of barrier integrity predisposes the patient to infection and overwhelming sepsis (blood poisoning) as bacteria from the gut microbiome pass through the damaged epithelial cell barrier and enter the patient’s bloodstream. Damage to the epithelial cell lining of the GI tract is a serious and life-threatening comorbidity of acute GVHD, and sepsis is the main cause of death in patients with severe acute GVHD. Following the bone marrow transplant, patients are at significant risk of developing acute GVHD. Acute GVHD is an immune disorder that occurs when immune cells from the bone marrow donor (known as the graft) attack or reject the organs and tissues of the patient (the host). It is estimated that up to 50% of patients who undergo a bone marrow transplant from a sibling donor, and up to 70% of patients who undergo a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor, will develop some level of GVHD. There are currently no FDA approved therapies for either the prevention or treatment of acute GVHD. “An ideal preventive therapy for acute GVHD would act to both repair the damage to epithelial cells caused by the TBI procedure, and act as an immunosuppressant to suppress the attack by the donor’s immune cells against the patient’s organs and tissues. It is already well established that CBD acts as an immunosuppressant, and now our research confirms that CBD also acts through a distinct biological pathway to repair the da...