Appeal No. 2005-0126
Application No. 09/967,791
leakage of fluid from the capillaries, leaving transcellular flow from the capillary to the
brain as the only means for fluid and solutes to enter the brain from the bloodstream.”
Id.
“Among the means of transcellular fluid flow available to other organs of the
body, pinocytosis is virtually non-existent in brain capillaries. Consequently, solutes
may enter the brain in one of two ways. Facilitated transport, a specialized carrier or
receptor catalyst molecule transports a particular molecule through the endothelial cell
wall into the brain. In lipid-mediated transport, small lipid molecules dissolve in and
diffuse through the endothelial cell membrane. ” Specification, pages 1-2.
“While these mechanisms permit entry into the brain of essential nutrients, the
existence of the blood-brain barrier effectively prevents other substances, such as
hormones, proteins, certain ions, and drugs from entering the brain.” Specification,
page 2.
According to the specification, it has been discovered that a hypertonic sugar
composition is effective to promote the entry of a chemical substance, such as a
nutrient or diagnostic or therapeutic agent, across the blood-brain barrier when the
composition is administered to an animal by other than by gastrointestinal absorption or
intravascular injection. In particular, the described invention provides for the promotion
of the entry of a nutrient or a diagnostic or therapeutic agent across the blood-brain
barrier by co-administering the agent with a hypertonic sugar composition, which sugar
is administered by a route that permits absorption into the body through the nasal,
3
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