Mifepristone - for Cushings

[kellysue]

Hi guys,

Came across this and thought I'd post it. Kelly

 

 

Mifepristone Orphan Drug Status for Cushing's Syndrome Secondary to ACTH Secretion in EU

 

On July 27, the European Commission approved orphan drug status for mifepristone (made by Laboratoire HRA Pharma, France) in the treatment of Cushing's syndrome secondary to ectopic adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) secretion. The condition affects fewer than 5,000 individuals in the European Union (EU).

 

The product acts as a reversible competitive antagonist at cortisol receptors, thereby decreasing the effects of elevated cortisol levels and improving long-term outcome.

 

Mifepristone (made by HRA Pharma) was approved for this orphan drug indication by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2005. Mifepristone was also granted traditional approval by the FDA in September 2000 for the medical termination of intrauterine pregnancies.

 

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/512621

[Kristy]

Yes, this is great news for ectopic Cushings patients!

[kellysue]

Hi Kristy,

Hoping that you would see the post! Over my head, but knew you'd get it! Kelly

[LeroyB]

What is very interesting is that the field of Neuropsychiatry has been doing trials and clinical studies of Mifepristone in severely depressed and / or several anxiety patients who have hypercortisolism (what would - to us - be a specific variations of Pseudo Cushing's).

 

In those cases (whether you want to call them psychologically induced Pseudo Cushing's or severe depression/anxiety with hypercortisolism), the neuropsychiatrist researchers have had amazing results with Mifepristone in a high-dose but short-term protocol (usually only last 4 - 7 days). In their trials, the researchers have had some very good results in apparently getting the HPA Axis to re-set and effect cures of these conditions.

 

Most of the research has been done by Satnford University and NIH / NIMH.

 

Some links:

 

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2000...ru486-1108.html

 

http://www.psycport.com/showArticle.cfm?xm...r=Business+Wire

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...t_uids=11593077

 

http://www2.eclinicalpsychiatrynews.com/sc...&id=aqc04032616

 

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p040592.html

 

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00048269

 

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/show/NCT0...B?amp%3Border=1

 

Leroy