Patent ID: 7276473

Claim:
A method for the treatment of a patient suffering from acute pancreatitis comprising: administering to said patient a pharmaceutically effective amount of a composition comprising a fusion protein comprising a) a first element comprising a binding element, said binding element able to specifically bind a pancreatic cell surface marker under physiological conditions; b) a second element comprising a translocation element, said translocation element comprising a portion of a Clostridial toxin heavy chain having a translocation activity able to facilitate the transfer of a polypeptide across a vesicular membrane; and c) a third element comprising a therapeutic element, said therapeutic element comprising a portion of a Clostridial toxin light chain retaining a SNARE-protein sequence-specific endopeptidase activity that, when present in the cytoplasm of a pancreatic cell, said Clostridial toxin light chain portion endopeptidase activity inhibits enzymatic secretion by said pancreatic cell; wherein said pharmaceutically effective amount of said composition is an amount of said composition sufficient to reduce or eliminate the autodigestion of pancreas tissue in acute pancreatitis; and wherein enzymatic secretion inhibition by said composition reduces or eliminates the autodigestion of pancreas tissue in acute pancreatitis.