Hyaluronic acid

Question

Hello,

on the 1st of September it has been in the media, that hyaluronic acid plays an important role in CF.
(http://www.idw-online.de/pages/de/news384304).
Can this give rise to hope or is it rather uninteresting for the patients?
Many thanks for your answer.

Answer

Dear questioner,

many thanks for this interesting question. Indeed it has been shown by scientists form Muenster, Germany, in the animal model, that in CF-cells the hyaluronic acid is increased. The detailed connection with the CF-chloride channel (CFTR) is still unclear and as mentioned, this has only been shown in the animal model (CF-cells from mice). In how far this can be transferred to human cells, is very questionable. Furthermore, on the above mentioned website, there is a mixture of other information. Indeed it is like this, that there are already studies, which investigate at the CF-patient so-called activators and potentiators of the chloride channel, and here there is for sure justified hope, that such drugs, which restain quasi the function of the CF-chloride channel, might play a role in the future in the treatment of CF. These drugs are however not in connection with the hyaluronic acid but directly with the chloride channel. I hope, to have helped you further a bit. There is a lot of research going on concerning CF at the moment, and one can hope, that in the next years new therapeutic options will be established.

Yours sincerely,
Dr.med. Markus Hofer

05.10.2010