Current drug therapies for ulcerative colitis (UC) are not completely effective in managing moderate-to-severe UC and approximately 20% of patients with severe UC require surgical interventions. Heparins, polydisperse mixtures of non-anticoagulant and anticoagulant oligosaccharides, are widely used as anticoagulants. However, heparins are also reported to have anti-inflammatory properties. Unfractionated heparin was initially used in patients with UC for the treatment of rectal microthrombi. Surprisingly, it was found to be effective in reducing UC-associated symptoms. Since then, several pre-clinical and clinical studies have reported promising outcomes of heparins in UC. In contrast, some controlled clinical trials demonstrated no or only limited benefits, thus the potential of heparins for the treatment of UC remains uncertain. This review discusses potential mechanisms of action of heparins, as well as proposed reasons for their contradictory clinical effectiveness in the treatment of UC.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	heparin, inflammatory bowel disease, low molecular weight heparin, mechanism, ulcerative colitis, non anticoagulant, chromatography
Research Division:	Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Research Group:	Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences
Research Field:	Pharmaceutical sciences
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Public health (excl. specific population health)
Objective Field:	Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Lean, QY (Miss Qi Lean)
UTAS Author:	Gueven, N (Dr Nuri Guven)
UTAS Author:	Eri, RD (Associate Professor Raj Eri)
UTAS Author:	Sohal, SS (Dr Sukhwinder Sohal)
UTAS Author:	Stewart, N (Dr Niall Stewart)
UTAS Author:	Peterson, GM (Professor Gregory Peterson)
UTAS Author:	Patel, RP (Dr Rahul Patel)
ID Code:	102444
Year Published:	2015
Web of Science® Times Cited:	8
Deposited By:	Pharmacy
Deposited On:	2015-08-21
Last Modified:	2017-11-02
Downloads:	0