Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has recently emerged as a critical small molecule playing a major role in normal physiology and pathophysiology.
Via the action of metabolic enzymes, it is naturally generated at nanomolar levels in the heart, liver, kidney, nervous system, lung, airway tissues, eyes, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive organs, skeletal muscle, pancreas, joints, connective tissue, cochlea and adipose tissues of all mammalian species.
A deficit in circulating hydrogen sulfide is thought to lead to increases in oxidative stress, leading to associated problems that can contribute to heart failure, among other health issues: Subjects with congestive heart failure, for example, have been shown to suffer from a deficit in circulating and cardiac hydrogen sulfide levels. Plasma sulfide levels are inversely related to the severity of congestive heart failure. Decreased plasma hydrogen sulfide levels are also seen in people with type 2 diabetes, or those affected by obesity or by many other pathological conditions.
On the other hand, emerging evidence supports the views that -at last in the cardiometabolic setting- H2S-based treatments are often capable not only of halting disease progression, but also of leading to reversal of damage to tissues and organs, and that this regenerative effect is related to the ability of H2S to stimulate the proliferation of stem (progenitor) cells.
There are in fact numerous therapeutic targets for hydrogen sulfide, including cancer, heart failure, organ transplant, peripheral artery disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Alzheimer’s disease, acute myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, atherosclerosis, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and thrombosis.
Sulfagenix has performed extensive research aimed at synthesizing safe, highly bioavailable and efficacious H2S donors. Sodium polysuthionate (“SG1002”), Sulfagenix’s lead H2S prodrug, is an orally active hydrogen sulfide precursor making up for the deficits that have been shown to exist in the above-mentioned health issues and others.
In clinical trials, SG1002 has demonstrated the ability to safely restore H2S homeostasis. Highly potent, SG1002 is the only hydrogen sulfide prodrug that converts 100% into H2S, making it the most efficient H2S-generating therapeutic agent in clinical development.
It is also extremely safe, with a very high therapeutic index and very mild gastrointestinal side effects. And, being orally active, it promotes patient compliance and ensures slow H2S release and is effective independently of H2S-generating enzyme levels. Thus, Sulfagenix’s lead H2S prodrug is able to release H2S at a slow, sustained and bio-regulated rate and to increase sulfur levels in blood and tissues of all vital organs.
It is indefinitely stable, with a shelf life greater than two years, and versatile, thanks to its high effectiveness in the treatment of multiple pathologies related to inflammation, immune dysregulation, oxidative stress, electrophilic stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress.
Importantly, H2S exerts extremely potent antioxidant effects, both directly (by scavenging free radicals) and indirectly - via the NRF2 transcription factor and activation of over 200 cytoprotective genes.
As the source of a key nature-occurring antioxidant, Sulfagenix’s SG1002 holds the key to unlocking the regenerating abilities of the human organism.