Inventors:
Howard C. Krivan - Rockville MD
Victor Ginsburg - Bethesda MD
David D. Roberts - Rockville MD
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health
& Human Services - Washington DC
International Classification:
C08B 3700
A61K 3902
Abstract:
A carbohydrate receptor for pathogenic bacteria is a purified carbohydrate compound that is a member selected from the group consisting of fucosyl-asialo GM1, asialo GM1, and asialo GM2. The receptor can be included in a composition having a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The receptor may be used for purifying, detecting, or removing bacteria from diseased tissue. The structure of the receptor is N-acetylagalctosamine-beta-1-4-galactose-beta-1-4-glucose, abbreviated GalNAc. beta. 1-4Gal. beta. 1-4Glc. The receptor is present in human and animal tissues as complex molecule and can serve as the attachment site for bacterial infection. For example, fucosyl-asialo GM1, asialo GM1, and asialo GM2 are three biological molecules which occur in cell membranes and contain the carbohydrate receptor.