Ulinastatin J.P.

Ulinastatin (urinary trypsin inhibitor, UTI) is found in human urine or blood. It is a glycosylated protein, having trypsin inhibiting activity. Apart from trypsin, Ulinastatin inhibits other serine proteases like α-chymotrypsin, leucocyte elastase and plasmin.

Structure

Ulinastatin contains glycosaminoglycans and N-linked glycans in its molecule. The peptide portion is composed of 143 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of 15340 Dalton. It has N-glycan at Asn-45 as well as a glycosaminoglycan chain of low-sulfated chondroitin 4-sulfate (ChS), which is attached to Ser-10.
The ChS chain of Ulinastatin does not seem to be involved in the protease inhibitor activity but is considered to play an important role in maintenance of physiological, physiochemical and biological properties. The molecular mass of ulinastatin ranges from 62 kDa to 72 kDa.

Therapeutic Indication

Ulinastatin is an effective drug in the treatment of acute pancreatitis, chronic recurrent pancreatitis and hemorrhagic, traumatic and endotoxin shocks.