US-12616665-B2 - Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio decreasing agent

US12616665B2US 12616665 B2US12616665 B2US 12616665B2US-12616665-B2

Abstract

Provided is an agent or a food composition capable of decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio. An agent for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood contains a curcumin as an active ingredient.

Inventors

Koji Hasegawa
Tadashi Hashimoto
Atsushi Imaizumi
Tatsuya Ogawa
Hitomi UMETA
Atsuhiro KISHIMOTO

Assignees

THERABIOPHARMA INC.
NATIONAL HOSPITAL ORGANIZATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20211112
Priority Date: 20201112

Claims (2)

1 . A method for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood, the method comprising orally administering to an adult in need thereof, an agent comprising a curcumin as an active ingredient at a dose of from 30 mg to 10 g per day for at least four weeks.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the adult in need thereof is at least 60 years old.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an agent for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A white blood cell is an immunocompetent cell involved in biophylaxis, and for example, eliminates foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses that have entered the body from the outside of the body, and eliminates a tumor cell and a cell that has finished a role thereof. There are five types of white blood cells: a monocyte, a lymphocyte, a neutrophil, a basophil, and an eosinophil. Among these, a lymphocyte is divided into a natural killer cell, a T cell, and a B cell, and has a function of attacking small foreign substances such as viruses and a tumor cell in particular. On the other hand, a neutrophil exhibits migration to an inflammatory cytokine, bacteria, and fungi, gathers in sites of inflammation, phagocytoses, kills, and degrades foreign substances such as bacteria and fungi, and protects a living body. As described above, a neutrophil and a lymphocyte have different roles, the number of lymphocytes does not change much, and the number of neutrophils is increased by, for example, bacterial infection, inflammation, and cancer. In recent years, it has been reported that a high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is involved in prognosis of various diseases such as breast cancer, large bowel cancer (Non Patent Literature 1), diabetes, or coronary artery disease, or chronic inflammation such as bacterial/viral infection, particularly COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection), in which chronic inflammation is involved. In addition, a Rotterdam study (epidemiological survey) targeting general residents of 45 years old or older also indicates that a high neutrophil lymphocyte ratio leads to a shorter life span. In recent years, it has been revealed that curcumin has pharmacological actions such as a tumorigenesis inhibitory action, an antioxidant action, an anti-inflammatory action, a cholesterol-lowering action, an anti-allergic action (for example, an anti-IL-6 action), a brain disease preventive action, and a heart disease preventive and therapeutic action, and use of curcumin in, for example, pharmaceuticals, foods, and cosmetics has been studied (Patent Literature 1). Mazumdar A. et al. have reported an HIV inhibitory action of curcumin (Non Patent Literature 3). CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Literature 1: JP 2013-95723 A Non Patent Literature Non Patent Literature 1: Journal of the Japan Society of Coloproctology 69: 154-158, 2016Non Patent Literature 2: Life Science 254(2020)117788Non Patent Literature 3: Biochem. Pharmacol. 1995, 49: 1165-1170 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, a drug capable of decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio has not yet been found. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an agent or a food composition capable of decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio. Therefore, the present inventor continuously administered a component confirmed to have high safety to a relatively old human and measured a change in neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio. As a result, the present inventor found that a curcumin has an effect of strongly decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood, and completed the present invention. That is, the present invention provides the following inventions [1] to [18]. [1] An agent for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood, containing a curcumin as an active ingredient.[2] The agent for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood according to [1], in which the curcumin is one or more selected from curcumin, a curcumin derivative, and a conjugate of curcumin or a curcumin derivative and a water-soluble substance.[3] The agent for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood according to [2], in which the curcumin derivative is one or more selected from bisdemethoxy curcumin, demethoxy curcumin, and tetrahydrocurcumin.[4] The agent for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood according to [2], in which the water-soluble substance is one or more selected from glucuronic acid, sulfuric acid, glutathione, and amino acid.[5] The agent for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood according to [2], in which the water-soluble substance is one or more selected from glucuronic acid and sulfuric acid.[6] The agent for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood according to [1], in which the curcumin is curcumin monoglucuronide.[7] A food composition for decreasing a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in blood, containing a curcumin.[8] The composition according to [7], in which the curcumin is one or more selected from curcumin, a curcumin derivative, and a conjugate of curcumin or a curcumin derivative and a water-soluble substance.[9] The composition according to [8], in which the curcumin derivative is one or more selected from bisdemethoxy curcumin, demethoxy curcumin, and tetrahydrocurcumin.[10] The composition according to [8],