Patent ID: 9101745
Filing Date: 2015-08-11
Classification: A61K,A61M,A61P,C12N

Abstract:
1. A pharmaceutical composition for increasing HDL-cholesterol levels in the blood of a patient, the composition comprising a mixture of a nucleic acid encoding an expressible open reading frame and sonochemically-active microspheres in a pharmaceutically acceptable aqueous carrier; wherein the nucleic acid of the mixture consists of a plasmid vector, the expressible open reading frame consists of an expressible open reading frame encoding the active form of ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1), and the plasmid vector also includes at least one sequence adapted to promote expression of the open reading frame in a mammalian cell; and wherein the sonochemically-active microspheres comprise gas bubbles encapsulated within shells comprising a protein, a lipid, or a combination thereof, the microspheres being disruptable upon exposure to ultrasonic acoustic energy to release the encapsulated gas bubbles; and wherein the composition transfects liver cells when intravenously administered to the patient while ultrasonically imaging the liver, to elicit production of an increased level of HDL-cholesterol in the blood of the patient compared to the HDL-cholesterol level in the blood of the patient prior to administering the composition.