A novel guluronate oligomer improves intestinal transit and survival in cystic fibrosis mice.

BACKGROUND:Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients experience intestinal complications characterized by the accumulation of thick viscous mucus. CF mice were utilized to determine if a novel guluronate oligomer, OligoG, may be a potential therapy in reducing intestinal mucus and subsequent CF-related intestinal manifestations. METHODS:Intestinal transit, intestinal histology, survival and growth were examined in wildtype and CF mice on regular water and OligoG. CONCLUSIONS:OligoG improves intestinal transit and survival in CF mice by reducing the accumulation of intestinal mucus. OligoG's ability to directly bind mucin, disrupt mucin interaction and/or sequester calcium allowing for mucin expansion may explain the decrease in mucus accumulation.