Indena Highlights New Lecithin Delivery System of Boswellia Serrata Extract

13 Apr 2015 --- Today, at the Pharma-Nutrition Conference in Philadelphia, Christian Artaria, Marketing Director of Indena, will make an oral presentation in a plenary session on the outcomes of a recent pharmacokinetic study on Casperome, the Boswellia serrata extract formulated with the Indena proprietary Phytosome technology.

Boswellic acids have long been considered the main bioactive components of Boswellia serrata, and many pre-clinical studies have confirmed their bioactivities. In particular, 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 acids1.

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 optimize their absorption. In a previous pre-clinical work such superior absorption was demonstrated both at the plasma and at the tissue level 2. The randomized, double blind, cross-over comparative pharmacokinetic study in healthy volunteers with a single oral dosage of 500 mg 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 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.

Christian Artaria, Marketing Director of Indena, commented: “We are excited for 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”.

Casperome is a purified mixture of triterpenoid acids from the gum resin of Boswellia serrata. Given the poor bioavailability of these compounds, Indena has formulated the extract with Phytosome technology to optimize their absorption and further support their functions in modulating physiological response to various challenges.

1.Du Z. et al. Planta Medica (2015) Feb 25 (under publication)
2 Hüsch J. et al. Fitoterapia 84 (2013) 89-98
3.Indena, manuscript submitted for publication