PEPTIDES FROM WHEY PROTEIN FOR PERITONEAL DIALYSIS

PERITONEAL DIALYSATE USED IN TREATING PATIENTS WITH END- STAGE RENAL DISEASE UTILIZES THE OSMOTIC FORCE OF HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF GLUCOSE TO TRANSFER WATER FROM THE BODY POOL TO THE DIALYSATE. THIS PROCEDURE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A SOURCE OF SEVERAL METABOLIC PROBLEMS IN SUCH PATIENTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ARE ALSO DIABETIC. UNIVERSITY MEDICAL ASSOCIATES WILL DEVELOP A MIXTURE OF CHARGED PEPTIDES TO REPLACE THE GLUCOSE. THE PEPTIDES WILL BE PREPARED FROM ENZYMATICALLY DIGESTED MILK WHEY PROTEINS, AN INEXPENSIVE AND ABUNDANT SOURCE OF HIGH-QUALITY PROTEIN. A NEW EXTRAC- TION PROCESS USING BOTH DIALYSIS AND REVERSE OSMOSIS WILL BEEVALUATED AS PART OF A REACTOR SCHEME FOR PEPTIDE PRODUCTION. THE MOLECULAR WEIGHT RANGE AND OSMOLALITY OF THE PEPTIDES OBTAINED BY THE EXTRACTION METHOD, AS WELL AS THE ABSENCE OF CONTAMINANTS, WILL BE DETERMINED AND THE COMPOSITION OF THE PRODUCT CONTROLLED BY VARYING BOTH THE ENZYME AND THE MEMBRANE PROCESS. THE FEASIBILITY OF PRODUC-ING A PHARMACOLOGICALLY USEFUL MIXTURE WILL BE SHOWN IN PHASE I OF THE PROGRAM. IN PHASE II, LARGE-SCALE REACTORS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO SUPPLY PEPTIDES FOR ANIMAL TRIALS. EXPERIMENTS WITH ANIMALS WILL DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OFTHE PEPTIDES IN PROVIDING FLUID REMOVAL DURING PERITONEAL DIALYSIS. CORRELATIONS WILL BE SOUGHT BETWEEN THE MOLECULARSIZE AND OSMOLALITY OF THE PEPTIDES AND THEIR ABILITY TO PROVIDE FLUID REMOVAL DURING PERITONEAL DIALYSIS. FUTURE STUDIES WILL INVOLVE CLINICAL TRIALS IN COLLABORATION WITH APHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURER.