The invention is a device combined with a composition, able to induce in human body a state of hypemetabolism, without the side effects of the therapeutic hypothermia.
| Patent title | Apparatus and combination of substances for inducing a chronic state of metabolic reduction |
|---|---|
| Thematic area | Health |
| Ownership | ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA' DI BOLOGNA, ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI FISICA NUCLEARE (I.N.F.N.) |
| Inventors | MARCO DURANTE, MATTEO NEGRINI, Matteo Cerri, Antonio Zoccoli |
| Protection | Italy (with the possibility to extend internationally) |
| Licensing status | Available for development agreements, option, license and other exploitation agreements |
| Keywords | Reduced metabolic activity, therapeutic hypothermia, torpor, hibernation, reduction of the body temperature. |
| Filed on | 11 December 2020 |
In the medicine field, the reduction of the metabolism is used on patients who need specific medical acute treatment: this therapeutic hypothermia is very helpful when some organs (brain, heart, …) are struggling in finding energy storage.
Currently, therapeutic hypothermia is limited to a few degrees of body cooling (not below 34 ° C), a few days in duration, and it has various side effects.
The invention refers to a device and / or a combination of substances, able to induce and maintain a chronic state of metabolic reduction in people with consequent hypothermia.
In this way, hypometabolism conditions can be artificially maintained for long times, without the negative physiological effects typical of therapeutic hypothermia.
This state is known as "synthetic torpor".
The possible applications of this invention are aimed at:
- extend the life span in critically ill patients awaiting for transplantation;
- increase the time for organ harvesting;
- treat conditions such as acute radiation syndrome;
- provide new treatment options for some diseases, such as status epilepticus or septic shock;
- reduce the side effects of anticancer radiotherapy;
- keep, if necessary, in quarantine or in isolation patients exposed to contaminants of various kinds.
The advantages are related to the increase in the duration of the state of metabolic reduction.