Patent Description:
Blood delivers oxygen and nutrients to the respective tissues and cells of the body. Ischemia refers to a state of oxygen deficiency in which the blood vessels, which are used to supply blood to body organs, tissues, or parts, narrow or shrink, or normal blood vessels are not sufficiently produced, resulting in lack of blood supply. Ischemia irreversibly injures cells and leads to tissue necrosis. In particular, the brain or heart is the most sensitive body organ to the lack of blood supply. For example, when ischemia occurs in a tissue due to stroke or head injury, a series of processes called ischemic cascades are triggered so that the tissue is permanently injured. To prevent such tissue injury, the flow of blood again after ischemia is called reperfusion.

Conventional therapy for ischemia and consequent hypoxia is to restore blood flow and oxygen delivery to normal levels either by increasing the systemic oxygen supply or by eliminating the cause of vascular occlusion. However, there is a problem that restoration of blood flow and oxygen delivery results in additional cell death or loss of function, irrespective of the injury caused by ischemia or hypoxia. Additional injury caused by restoration of blood flow and oxygen delivery is known as reperfusion injury. Tissue injury caused by reperfusion injury appears to be similar to acute inflammatory conditions resulting from adherence of inflammatory cells to reperfused tissue to cause the activation of these inflammatory cells and subsequent formation of free radicals. Generation of free radicals and other cytotoxic biomolecules in reperfused tissue may lead to cell death by necrosis or activation of apoptotic pathways.

Meanwhile, mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) is formed in the mitochondrial inner membrane, and when mPTP is opened, molecules below <NUM> Da may enter into the mitochondrial membrane. The result of mPTP opening is swelling of the outer mitochondrial membrane and ultimate bursting as well as uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, the subsequent release of stored calcium and pre-apoptotic factors. The release of stored calcium may cause mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) in neighboring mitochondria resulting in the production of calcium-overload, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell-mediated chain reaction. Subsequently, depending on the energy state of the cells, apoptosis or necrosis occurs to cause irreversible tissue and organ injury.

The roles of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis and necrosis in the pathogenesis of many diseases are well established. It is known that mPTP is responsible for the pathogenesis and progression of several diseases such as acute myocardial infarction, stroke, neurological diseases and hepatitis.

In particular, myocardial infarction is caused by myocardial cell death resulting from necrosis and/or apoptosis due to sequential ischemic reperfusion in ischemic heart disease. Fatal reperfusion injury (myocardial cell death as a direct consequence of tissue reperfusion) is believed to account for up to <NUM>% of the final myocardial infarction size and is known to be dependent on reperfusion injury salvage kinase (RISK) pathway and mPTP opening.

There has been no report on the association of bile acids and mPTP with these functions. As described above, effective treatment for ischemia-reperfusion injury, an important disease with a high incidence, is insufficient. Thus, the effective prevention and treatment of ischemia-reperfusion injury using bile acids would have significant ripple effects.

<NPL>) describes that UCDA as the active ingredient for the protection of myocardium against reperfusion injury.

Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention confirmed that deoxycholic acid, cholic acid, and lithocholic acid in bile acids could inhibit ischemia-reperfusion injury while studying the relationship between mPTP and bile acids, thereby completing the present invention.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating ischemia-reperfusion injury containing bile acids or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof and a food composition for preventing or ameliorating ischemia-reperfusion injury.

In order to achieve the above-identified objects, the present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating ischemia-reperfusion injury caused by myocardial ischemia, the composition containing bile acids or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the bile acid is at least one selected from the group consisting of deoxycholic acid and cholic acid and the bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof is to be administered in an amount of <NUM>/kg/day to <NUM>/kg/day.

Further, the present invention provides a food composition for use in preventing or ameliorating ischemia-reperfusion injury caused by myocardial ischemia, the composition containing bile acids or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the bile acid is at least one selected from the group consisting of deoxycholic acid and cholic acid and the bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof is to be administered in an amount of <NUM>/kg/day to <NUM>/kg/day.

According to the present invention, bile acids increase intranuclear beta-catenin (β-catenin) levels, interferes with the opening of a mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP), and has excellent effects, in ischemia-reperfusion injury animal models, of alleviating tissue injury and reducing the size of infarcts, thereby being usable in the prevention, treatment, or alleviation of ischemia-reperfusion injury.

The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for use in preventing or treating ischemia-reperfusion injury caused by myocardial ischemia, the composition containing a bile acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof wherein the bile acid is at least one selected from the group consisting of deoxycholic acid and cholic acid and the bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof is to be administered in an amount of <NUM>/kg/day to <NUM>/kg/day.

In the present disclosure, bile acids have excellent effects of increasing intranuclear beta-catenin levels, interfering with the opening of a mitochondria permeability transition pore (mPTP), and alleviating tissue injury and reducing the size of infarcts in ischemia-reperfusion injury animal models, thereby being usable in the prevention, treatment, or alleviation of ischemia-reperfusion injury.

In the present disclosure, bile acids may be at least one selected from the group consisting of cholic acid and deoxycholic acid (DCA), preferably cholic acid.

The cholic acid and deoxycholic acid can effectively prevent and treat ischemia-reperfusion injury even at a low concentration.

Unless specified otherwise, the pharmaceutically acceptable salt of bile acids of the present invention includes an acidic or basic salt which may be present in the bile acids. For example, the pharmaceutically acceptable salt includes sodium, calcium and potassium salts having a hydroxyl group. Further, hydrobromide, sulfate, hydrogen sulfate, phosphate, hydrogen phosphate, dihydrogen phosphate, acetate, succinate, citrate, tartrate, lactate, mandelate, methanesulfonate (mesylate) and p-toluenesulfonate (tosylate) salts having an amino group. The pharmaceutically acceptable salt may be prepared by the methods well known in the art. The pharmaceutically acceptable salt preferably is sodium gluconate salt or sodium taurate salt, but is not limited thereto.

In the present disclosure, "ischemic injury" refers to injury occurring as a result of a restriction in blood supply and hence the shortage of oxygen supply to organs requiring blood supply such as the heart, brain, kidneys, etc., which can lead to fatal damage such as dysfunction of tissues and cell death. The cause of an ischemic injury includes vascular disease, coronary thrombosis, cerebrovascular thrombosis, aneurysm rupture, systemic hemorrhage, crush injury, sepsis, severe skin burn, vascular ligation surgery (e.g., spinal ischemia during thoracoabdominal aneurysm surgery), cardiopulmonary bypass, organ transplantation, cardiopulmonary collapse (sudden cardiac death), suffocation, etc., but is not limited thereto.

In the present disclosure, the "ischemic injury" also includes ischemic-reperfusion injury that may occur, for example, during organ transplantation, in addition to ischemic injury conventionally caused.

In the present invention, "ischemia-reperfusion injury" is caused by myocardial ischemia.

The ischemia-reperfusion injury may be caused by restoration of blood flow in a tissue or organ that has undergone a natural event such as restoration of blood flow after trauma (e.g., acute myocardial infarction) or blood supply reduction; or reperfusion surgery (e.g., one or more surgical procedures to restore blood flow in a tissue or organ that has undergone blood supply reduction), other therapeutic interventions, or organ transplant procedures. Such surgical procedures include, for example, coronary artery bypass surgery, coronary angioplasty, organ transplant procedure and the like.

For example, acute myocardial infarction refers to the phenomenon of death and necrosis of the heart muscle due to lack of oxygen and nutrients caused by the occlusion of one of the cardiac vessels. In this case, usually, the patient should visit the hospital, and the blood vessel should be reperfused within <NUM> hour. Therefore, the mortality rate can be reduced to within <NUM>%. However, in about <NUM>% of patients, myocardial cells are injured due to the rapid supply of oxygen resulting from reperfusion of blocked blood vessels, which is called reperfusion injury. Because of reperfusion injury, about <NUM>% of the patients die within <NUM> days after the procedure, and about <NUM>% of surviving patients have symptoms such as heart failure.

As used herein, the term "reperfusion surgery" refers to surgery or procedure for removing thrombus generated in blood vessels and allowing blood flow to flow again, which may include surgical thrombectomy and reperfusion-induced manipulation using a stent, but is not limited thereto. Reperfusion surgery can be used to complement the disadvantages of reperfusion therapeutic agent (e.g., plasminogen activators such as tPA).

The reperfusion surgery may include a method of suctioning thrombus by applying negative pressure (proximal thrombectomy), a method of removing thrombus with coil (distal thrombectomy), a method of inserting a stent into narrowed blood vessels to widen the blood vessels and removing thrombus with the stent together (stent retriever) and the like. The proximal thrombectomy is a method of removing thrombus by applying a negative pressure approaching the proximal thrombus, mainly using a suction device, such as the Penumbra system. The distal thrombectomy is a method of removing thrombus from a distal portion over thrombus with a wire, mainly using a coil device, such as the Merci system. The stent retriever is a method of inducing reperfusion of a blood vessel by inserting a stent like a coronary artery. The composition according to the present invention may be applied to various reperfusion surgeries for reperfusion purposes in addition to the above-mentioned surgeries.

In the present disclosure, the reperfusion surgery refers to surgery or treatment performed to treat cerebrovascular diseases, arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases and the like, but is not limited thereto.

The cerebrovascular disease includes stroke, cerebral infarction, cerebral thrombosis and cerebral embolism, but is not limited thereto. The cardiovascular disease includes myocardial infarction and angina pectoris, but is not limited thereto.

The pharmaceutical composition of the present disclosure can be administered before, during, or after the occurrence of ischemia-reperfusion injury, for example, for pretreatment of reperfusion surgery. The pharmaceutical composition of the present disclosure is administered into the blood vessels of a patient prior to vascular reperfusion surgery so that it is useful for preventing, treating or ameliorating tissue injury, such as myocardial injury, after reperfusion.

Also, as described herein, lesions caused by ischemia and injury caused by ischemia or ischemic reperfusion can induce apoptosis in diseased cells, tissues or organs, leading to impairment and dysfunction. For the prevention or treatment of ischemic injury or ischemia-reperfusion injury, for example, the bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present invention may be administered to a subject to undergo reperfusion surgery, for example, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> hour, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, or about <NUM> hours, and preferably about <NUM> hours before the reperfusion surgery.

Alternatively or additionally, the bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present invention may be administered to a subject after reperfusion surgery or during reperfusion surgery. For example, the bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof may be administered more than once at regular intervals during the reperfusion surgery. Alternatively, the bile acid may be administered continuously over the duration of the reperfusion surgery. Also, for example, the bile acid of the present invention may be administered to a subject who underwent reperfusion surgery after reperfusion surgery. The bile acid of the present invention may be administered to a subject who underwent reperfusion surgery, for example, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> minutes, about <NUM> hour, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, about <NUM> hours, or about <NUM> hours after the reperfusion surgery. The bile acid or acceptable salt thereof of the present invention may also be used to inhibit ischemia or ischemia-reperfusion injury to in vitro cells, tissues or organs (e.g., tissues used in transplantation procedures, organs used in organ transplantation) prior to reperfusion surgery. For example, the organ can be contacted with bile acid (e.g., immersing the organ in the bath with the composition containing bile acid of the present invention) prior to implanting the organ into the host body (e.g., during storage or transportation of the organ in a sterile environment) so as to inhibit ischemia or ischemia-reperfusion injury. Preferably, a single intravenous injection prior to reperfusion surgery of a subject having acute myocardial infarction can inhibit cardiac injury due to reperfusion surgery.

The pharmaceutical composition of the present disclosure may further include a therapeutic agent for reperfusion (therapeutic agent for recanalization). In addition, the pharmaceutical composition of the present disclosure can be used in combination with a reperfusion therapeutic agent.

The bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present disclosure is an inhibitor of mPTP opening.

The bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present disclosure is an agonist of beta-catenin.

The bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present disclosure is for protecting mitochondrial.

The bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present disclosure inhibits the infarction of the tissue.

The bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present disclosure is an agonist of beta-catenin, which significantly reduces the phenomenon of death or necrosis of cardiac muscle caused by the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) due to rapid oxygen uptake during reperfusion of the blocked blood vessels. Therefore, it can reduce the mortality rate of <NUM>% within <NUM> days after reperfusion surgery and reduce the symptom of heart failure by about <NUM>% of patients after reperfusion surgery. mPTP is formed in the mitochondrial inner membrane. mPTP is opened to induce depolarization of mitochondria, resulting in dysfunction of mitochondria. The bile acid acts as an agonist of beta-catenin, interfering the opening of mPTP to inhibit mitochondrial depolarization, thereby protecting mitochondria and preventing oxidative injury of mitochondria so as to inhibit tissue infarction. Accordingly, it has the effect of preventing, treating or ameliorating ischemia-reperfusion injury.

The pharmaceutical composition containing the bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present disclosure may be formulated in the form of injectable or oral preparations. Further, the injectable preparation containing the pharmaceutical composition of the present disclosure may be administered through various routes including oral, transdermal, subcutaneous, intravenous, or muscular, but may preferably be administered intravenously. The injectable preparation containing the pharmaceutical composition of the present disclosure may be formulated using methods known in the art so as to provide a rapid, sustained or delayed release of the active ingredient after administration to the subject. The injectable preparation is preferably administered subcutaneously, muscularly or intravenously, and most preferably intravenously. When administered intravenously, it can be administered by intravenous injection once before reperfusion surgery, and the only one intravenous injection can effectively improve the injury of organs such as heart due to reperfusion surgery. Further, the oral preparation may be selected from the group consisting of tablets, pills, powders, granules, capsules, suspensions, solutions, emulsions, syrups and freeze-dried preparations, but is not limited thereto.

The bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present disclosure may be administered to a subject via intraperitoneal administration, intranasal administration, intravenous injection, subcutaneous injection, intracerebrospinal injection , inhalation administration or oral administration. Further, the effective ingredients of the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention vary depending on the age, sex, weight, pathological condition and severity of the subject to be administered, route of administration, or judgment of the prescriber. Determination of the optimal dose based on these factors is within the level of those skilled in the art, but may be used at a similar or lower concentration relative to that of the FDA-approved concentration. More specifically, the daily dosage thereof is <NUM>/kg/day to <NUM>/kg/day, specifically <NUM>/kg/day to <NUM>/kg/day, more specifically <NUM>/kg/day to <NUM>/kg/day, furthermore specifically <NUM>/kg/day to <NUM>/kg/day, but is not limited thereto. The pharmaceutical composition of the present disclosure may be administered once to three times a day, but is not limited thereto.

Formulations for parenteral administration of the pharmaceutical compositions of the present disclosure can be injections, drops, lotions, ointments, gels, creams, suspensions, emulsions, suppositories, patches or spray agents, but are not limited thereto. Further, the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention may contain additives such as diluents, excipients, lubricants, binders, disintegrants, buffers, dispersants, surfactants, colorants, fragrances or sweeteners as necessary. The pharmaceutical composition of the present invention can be prepared by a conventional method in the art.

The pharmaceutical composition of the present disclosure may be administered alone or in combination with one or more other therapeutic agents, before, after, or concurrently with other therapeutic agents. The bile acid of the present disclosure and other therapeutic agents as described above may be co-administered simultaneously (e.g., co-administration) as a separate formulation or as a co-formulation. Alternatively, the agonist can be administered sequentially as a separated composition within a reasonable time frame as determined by a skilled clinician (e.g., for a time sufficient to allow overlapping of the pharmacological effects of the therapeutic agents by the therapy). The bile acid and one or more other therapeutic agents of the present disclosure may be administered in a single dose or in multiple doses according to such schedules in an order suitable for achieving the desired therapeutic effect (e.g., reduction and/or inhibition of ischemia, reduction and/or inhibition of ischemic injury; and reduction and/or inhibition of ischemia-reperfusion injury). Suitable dosages and administration therapy can be determined by the clinician and depend on the selected agonist(s), pharmaceutical formulation and route of administration, various patient factors, and other considerations.

Other suitable therapeutic agents that may be administered with the pharmaceutical composition of the present disclosure include calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, nitroglycerin, aspirin, anti-inflammatories, sodium diuretics, vasodilators, thrombolytic agents and antithrombotic agents, but are not limited thereto.

Further, the present disclosure provides a food composition for use in preventing or ameliorating ischemia-reperfusion injury, the composition containing a bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

The food composition can be used for health food, and in the present disclosure, the bile acid can be added intact or used with other food or food ingredients in the health food and can be suitably used according to conventional methods.

There is no particular limitation on the kind of food. Examples of the food include drinks, meat, sausage, bread, biscuits, rice cakes, chocolates, candies, snacks, confectionery, pizza, ramen noodles, other noodles, gums, dairy products including ice cream, various soups, beverage, alcohols, and vitamin complexes, and it includes all healthy foods in a conventional sense.

The bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of the present disclosure may be added intact to the food or can be used together with other food or food ingredients and may be suitably used according to conventional methods. The amount of the active ingredient to be mixed may be suitably determined according to its use purpose (for prevention or amelioration). Generally, the amount of bile acid in the health food may be added in an amount of <NUM>% by weight to <NUM>% by weight of the total weight of the food, and the amount of bile acid in the health beverage composition may be added in an amount of <NUM> to <NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM> with respect to <NUM> of the health beverage composition. However, the amount may be less than the above-described range in the case of long-term intake intended for health and hygiene purposes or for health control purposes. Since there is no problem in terms of safety, the active ingredient can be used in an amount exceeding the above-described range.

The health functional beverage composition of the present disclosure has no particular limitation on other components other than those containing bile acid as an active ingredient in the indicated ratio and may contain various flavors or natural carbohydrates as an additional ingredient as conventional beverages. Examples of the above-mentioned natural carbohydrates include monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose; disaccharides such as maltose and sucrose; and polysaccharides such as conventional sugars including dextrin and cyclodextrin and sugar alcohols including xylitol, sorbitol, erythritol, and the like. Natural flavors such as tau martin and stevia extracts (e.g., rebaudioside A, glycyrrhizin, etc.) and synthetic flavors such as saccharin and aspartame, can be advantageously used as flavors other than those described above.

In addition to the above, the food composition of the present disclosure may include a variety of nutrients, vitamins, minerals (electrolytes), a flavors such as synthetic flavors and natural flavors, coloring agents and thickening agents (cheese, chocolate etc.), pectic acids and salts thereof, alginic acids and salts thereof, organic acids, protective colloid thickening agents, pH adjusting agents, stabilizers, preservatives, glycerin, alcohols, carbonating agents used in carbonated drinks, and the like.

Hereinafter, the present invention is described in detail with reference to examples.

Experiments were conducted to identify drugs with an enhancement effect on beta-catenin by analyzing the effects of various kinds of bile acid on the intranuclear beta-catenin level. Nuclear beta-catenin luciferase assay was performed to examine effects of treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid, glycochenodeoxycholic acid (GlycochenDCA), taurodeoxycholic acid (TauroDCA), glycocholic acid, taurocholic acid (TauroCA), chenodeoxycholic acid (ChenoDCA), cholic acid, dehydrocholic acid, lithocholic acid and deoxycholic acid (DCA) on the change of the intranuclear beta-catenin level.

Specifically, TCF/LEF reporter_HEK293 cell line (BPS bioscience) was used. The TCFALEF reporter_HEK293 cell line is a stable cell line in which luciferase is cloned into the TCF/LEF promoter (beta-catenin-binding promoter) in the nucleus. When the level of luciferase is measured after drug treatment, intranuclear beta-catenin levels can be obtained. The TCFALEF reporter_HEK293 cell lines (BPS Bioscience) were divided into <NUM> wells (<NUM> × <NUM><NUM> cells) or <NUM> wells (<NUM> × <NUM><NUM> cells) and cultured until the cells were adhered to the plate bottom. In order to make cells in a resting state, <NUM>% FBS DMEM medium was replaced with <NUM>% FBS medium, and the cells were cultured for one day. The cells were treated with the above-described bile acids in <NUM> or <NUM> and cultured for <NUM> hours. Thereafter, the activity of luciferase was measured using a luminometer. The measurement results are shown in <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, it was confirmed that TauroCA, cholic acid, lithocholic acid, and deoxycholic acid among <NUM> kinds of bile acids significantly increased beta-catenin levels in the nucleus.

Western blot was performed to examine the mechanism of intranuclear transfer of beta-catenin by deoxycholic acid (DCA) identified in Example <NUM> above. Cells were treated with <NUM> DCA. After <NUM> minutes, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> hours, western blotting was performed. The results are shown in <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, it was observed that intranuclear transfer of beta-catenin was increased from <NUM> minutes after the treatment with DCA, and the amount of intranuclear beta-catenin of the cells peaked <NUM> hours later.

Therefore, it was identified that TauroCA, cholic acid, lithocholic acid, and deoxycholic acid increased the level of beta-catenin, which inhibits the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP), thereby suppressing reperfusion injury. Thus, it has been confirmed that they have potential as candidates for drugs with beta-catenin enhancement effects.

In order to examine the effect of cholic acid, lithocholic acid, and deoxycholic acid on the mitochondria, which were confirmed to have an effect of increasing the beta-catenin levels in Example <NUM>, TMRM (tetramethylrhodamine, methyl ester, perchlorate) staining method was performed. TMRM is a fluorescent marker that stains normal mitochondria.

Specifically, 293T cells were treated with <NUM> and <NUM> of cholic acid, lithocholic acid, and deoxycholic acid. After <NUM> hour, the cells were treated with CCCP (chlorophenylhydrazone, <NUM>), which induces similar stimulation to reperfusion into mitochondria to open mPTP and to induce polarization. Thus, mPTP opening and depolarization of mitochondria were induced. After <NUM> minutes, the cells were washed with PBS, stained with TMRM, and measured using a fluorescent reader. The measurement results are shown in <FIG>. Cyclosporine A (Cyp), which is a typical inhibitor of mPTP opening, was used as a positive control.

As shown in <FIG>, Cyp inhibited mitochondrial injury by about <NUM>% in the group treated with Cyp, which was the positive control, and lithocholic acid also inhibited mitochondrial injury to a level similar to that of the positive control group. In particular, it was confirmed that cholic acid and deoxycholic acid had effects of inhibiting mitochondrial injury by about <NUM>%.

Therefore, it was confirmed that the treatment with cholic acid, deoxycholic acid, and lithocholic acid inhibited the opening of mPTP induced and suppressed depolarization of mitochondria, thereby having an excellent effect of protecting mitochondria. Therefore, it was identified that cholic acid, deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid could inhibit mitochondrial injury by reperfusion to suppress apoptosis or necrosis inducing irreversible tissue and organ injury.

Experiments were conducted to examine cell proliferation effects of TauroCA, cholic acid and lithocholic acid among bile acids. Thus, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with <NUM> TauroCA, cholic acid and lithocholic acid. The cell counting method and CCK-<NUM> staining method were performed to identify cell proliferation effects <NUM> hours after the treatment with TauroCA, cholic acid and lithocholic acid. The results of these experiments are shown in <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, the proliferation assay indicated that cholic acid and lithocholic acid had more significant cell proliferation effects than the control group. As shown in <FIG>, the CCK-<NUM> assay indicated that cholic acid had significant a cell proliferation effect. Therefore, it was confirmed that cholic acid and lithocholic acid had effects of inhibiting ischemia reperfusion-injury through cell proliferation.

Experiments were conducted to examine cell migration effects of TauroCA, cholic acid and lithocholic acid among bile acids. Thus, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with <NUM> TauroCA, cholic acid and lithocholic acid. The cells were counted using Boyden chamber to identify cell migration effects of TauroCA, cholic acid and lithocholic acid. The results of these experiments are shown in <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, it was confirmed that their cell migration effects caused by treating with cholic acid, TauroCA, and lithocholic acid were significantly higher than that of the control group. Also, as shown in <FIG>, the migration assay confirmed that the cell migration by the treatment with cholic acid and lithocholic acid was significantly increased than that of the control group. In particular, cholic acid showed about <NUM> times more cell migration than the control group and showed the best migration effect.

Therefore, it was confirmed that cholic acid and lithocholic acid migrated cells and had effects of inhibiting ischemia-reperfusion injury through cell migration.

In order to prepare a reperfusion injury mouse model, Balb/C mice (<NUM> weeks old) were anesthetized with ketamine. The tube was intubated into the airway and connected to a respirator. The left side of the mouse was then corrected to the upper side, and the skin was incised. The gap was widened between the third and fourth ribs so as to fix the heart to be exposed. The deoxycholic acid or cholic acid, which was the most effective in screening and in vitro assays, was injected into the left ventricle in a concentration of <NUM>/kg, <NUM>/kg and <NUM>/kg using a vascular injection method. Thereafter, the left coronary artery was tied and then loosened <NUM> minutes later and sutured. After <NUM> hours, the hearts were harvested and frozen at - <NUM> for <NUM> hours. The hearts were quaternized in <NUM> thickness. Each tissue was cultured and stained with <NUM>% TTC (in PBS) solution for <NUM> minutes. Then, the tissue was transferred to a <NUM>% formalin solution and stored for one day. Photographs were taken and the results are shown in <FIG>. Further, in the tissue photograph, the area of the infarcted tissue relative to the total area was quantified as %, and the result is shown in <FIG>. Cyclosporine A (Cyp), a substance that inhibits the opening of mPTP, was used as a positive control.

As shown in <FIG>, it was confirmed that living tissue was stained red and infarcted tissue was stained white. It was confirmed that the tissues treated with <NUM>/kg of deoxycholic acid and <NUM>/kg or <NUM>/kg of cholic acid were mostly reddish with almost no white staining compared to the control group.

Further, as shown in <FIG>, the positive control group Cyp (<NUM>/kg) showed a reduction of the infarcted area by about <NUM>%, whereas the group treated with <NUM>/kg of deoxycholic acid showed a decrease by about <NUM>% and the group treated with <NUM>/kg and <NUM>/kg of cholic acid showed a decrease by about <NUM>% and about <NUM>%, respectively. However, in the group treated with deoxycholic acid, cells died at a concentration of <NUM>/kg or more, and deoxycholic acid showed the effect at a concentration of <NUM>/kg or less. The cholic acid showed the best efficacy at a concentration of <NUM>/kg. Therefore, it was confirmed that the effect of suppressing reperfusion injury is excellent when the concentration is low.

Therefore, it was confirmed that low concentrations of deoxycholic acid and cholic acid could be used as an inhibitor of cardiac injury after reperfusion.

In order to confirm the inhibitory effect of deoxycholic acid among the bile acids on myocardial necrosis caused by reperfusion injury, the test was performed to confirm mouse myocardial necrosis using Annexin-Vivo750 fluorescent dye.

After <NUM> hours, Annexin-Vivo750 fluorescent dye was injected into the mouse model prepared in Example <NUM> to examine the effect of deoxycholic acid (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>/kg (mpk)) by the concentration. The results are shown in <FIG>. Annexin dyes are known to bind where apoptosis occurs and to show fluorescence.

As shown in <FIG>, it was confirmed that the heart was not stained in the control group without reperfusion, but the control group with reperfusion surgery showed strong fluorescence. Further, as shown in <FIG>, it was confirmed that the group treated with <NUM> mpk or <NUM> mpk deoxycholic acid showed the effect of decreasing myocardial death by <NUM>% or more compared to the control group with reperfusion surgery. Therefore, it was confirmed that deoxycholic acid with low concentration could be used as an inhibitor of reperfusion injury due to effective inhibition of ischemia-reperfusion injury.

The above components are mixed and filled into gelatin capsules to prepare tablets according to a conventional capsule preparation method.

The above components are included in the above amount per <NUM> ampoule (<NUM>) according to a conventional injection preparation method.

Purified water was added to make the total volume of <NUM>,<NUM>. The above components are mixed, then filled in a brown bottle and sterilized to prepare liquids according to a conventional liquid preparation method.

<NUM> parts by weight to <NUM> parts by weight of the food composition of the present disclosure was added to wheat flour, and the mixture was used to prepare bread, a cake, a cookie, a cracker and a noodle for a health improving food.

Claim 1:
A pharmaceutical composition for use in preventing or treating ischemia-reperfusion injury caused by myocardial ischemia, the composition comprising a bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the bile acid is at least one selected from the group consisting of deoxycholic acid and cholic acid and the bile acid or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof is to be administered in an amount of <NUM>/kg/day to <NUM>/kg/day.