Suntory Holdings Limited

Suntory Limited

Taeko Iino

Sumio Asami

Kyoichi Ogura

Yoshinobu Kiso

Shinzo Kato

Wataru Fujii

It is intended to provide ACE inhibitory tripeptides which are not easily digested by digestive enzymes after being orally taken and thus have fewer tendencies to lose their ACE inhibitory activity in vivo. More specifically, 3 tripeptides having an ACE inhibitory activity and showing a hypotensive effect in an animal experiment are discovered from a thermolysin digestion product of sesame. These tripeptides respectively have amino acid sequences Leu-Ser-Ala, Val-Ile-Tyr and Leu-Val-Tyr and show an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory activity.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides

By using xylobiose or xylooligosaccharide containing xylobiose as a main ingredient in place of lactulose, there is provided a blood ammonia lowering agent, a therapeutic agent of hyperammonemia or a therapeutic agent of hepatic encephalopathy that need be adminstered in smaller doses and which have no concern over side effects. Lactulose conventionally used as such drugs has to be administered in high doses and involves a safety problem when administered to patients with galactosemia or diabetes mellitus. The drug of the invention which contains xylobiose as a main ingredient solves these problems.

Remedies for hyperammonemia

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Otsu, Japan

Taeko Iino