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Indena optimises boswellic acid absorption

Indena has disclosed the outcomes of a recent pharmacokinetic study on Casperome, the Boswellia serrata extract formulated with Indena’s proprietary Phytosome technology. Boswellic acids have long been considered the main bioactive components of Boswellia serrata, Indena notes, and many pre-clinical studies have confirmed their bioactivities. In particular, the company says that recent mechanistic studies have […]

Indena has disclosed the outcomes of a recent pharmacokinetic study on Casperome, the Boswellia serrata extract formulated with Indena’s proprietary Phytosome technology.

Boswellic acids have long been considered the main bioactive components of Boswellia serrata, Indena notes, and many pre-clinical studies have confirmed their bioactivities. In particular, the company says that recent mechanistic studies have validated the capacity of the β-boswellic acid family to modulate physiological response to various challenges, but preliminary pharmacokinetic studies in animals and humans have highlighted the poor oral absorption of boswellic acids.

To overcome this problem, Indena has formulated a purified mixture of boswellic acids from Boswellia serrata with lecithin, taking advantage of its proprietary Phytosome technology platform to optimise their absorption. In a previous pre-clinical work such superior absorption was demonstrated both at the plasma and at the tissue level.

The randomised, double blind, cross-over comparative pharmacokinetic study in healthy volunteers with a single oral dosage of 500 mg is said to have confirmed a marked increase of major boswellic acids in comparison with the unformulated extract3. Plasma levels of most relevant boswellic acids measured after Casperome administration, in particular β-boswellic acids, were in the range of expected biological activity, thus representing, according to Indena, strong support for a rational dosage regimen in clinical testing.

Clinical investigations in four controlled studies have given further support to the relevance of this pharmacokinetic study.

“We are excited by the results we achieved, as for the first time, with a single dosage of 500 mg of Casperome, relevant plasmatic levels could be reached and measured in humans,” said Christian Artaria, Marketing Director of Indena.