Olsalazine Explained

Olsalazine is an anti-inflammatory medication used in the treatment of ulcerative colitis.[1] [2] It is sold under the brand name Dipentum.[3]

Olsalazine itself is a pro-drug of mesalazine (5-aminosalicyclic acid or 5-ASA) and is not absorbed in the small intestine. Instead it continues through to the colon where it is cleaved into two molecules of 5-ASA by azoreductases produced by colonic bacteria. Olsalazine thus exerts its anti-inflammatory effect by its colonic breakdown into 5-ASA which inhibits cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase thereby reducing prostaglandin and leukotriene production.[3]

History

Olsalazine gained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1990.

Supply

The drug is supplied by UCB Pharma.

Research

In 2006 the Australian biotech company Giaconda received a European patent for a combination therapy for treating constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome that uses olsalazine and the anti-gout drug colchicine, for trials the following year.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Olsalazine--a further choice in ulcerative colitis . Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin . 28 . 15 . 57–8 . July 1990 . 2131213 . 10.1136/dtb.28.15.57 . 7178709 .
  2. Wadworth AN, Fitton A . Olsalazine. A review of its pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties, and therapeutic potential in inflammatory bowel disease . Drugs . 41 . 4 . 647–64 . April 1991 . 1711964 . 10.2165/00003495-199141040-00009 . 243654426 .
  3. Web site: Olsalazine Sodium 250 mg Capsules - Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) - (emc) . www.medicines.org.uk . 9 January 2021.
  4. News: Giaconda gets European patent for drug . 16 January 2021 . The Sydney Morning Herald . 28 December 2006 . en.