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Galactose | CAS No: 59-23-4 | GMP-certified suppliers
A medication that supports vaccine development and contributes to lactulose formulation for treating constipation and hepatic encephalopathy in pharmaceutical applications.
Therapeutic categories
CarbohydratesContrast MediaDiagnostic AgentsHexosesMonosaccharidesTests for Liver Functional Capacity
Generic name
Galactose
Molecule type
small molecule
CAS number
59-23-4
DrugBank ID
DB11735
Approval status
Approved drug, Investigational drug
ATC code
V08DA02
Primary indications
- There are limited therapeutic uses for which galactose is formally indicated
- Some predominant indications include (a) the use of galactose to facilitate the construction of structurally and immunologically effective attenuated vaccines [T188, L2633], and (b) the role galactose plays as an essential element in the formation of lactulose - a synthetic disaccharide indicated for the treatment of constipation and/or hepatic encephalopathy (HE)
- Hepatic coma
- Nevertheless, there are many studies looking into a variety of possible uses for galactose, including the use of the monosaccharide sugar for accelerating senescence in mice, rats, and Drosophila [A32853, A32854], the proposed association between galactose in consumed milk and ovarian cancer [A32855, A32856], a possible role in the therapy of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis , among various others
Product Snapshot
- Galactose is supplied as a powder formulation for suspension or solution intended for intrauterine or intravenous administration
- Its primary applications include use as a component in vaccine development and as a precursor in the synthesis of lactulose for gastrointestinal and hepatic therapies
- Galactose is approved for use in Canada and holds investigational status in other regulatory jurisdictions
Clinical Overview
Galactose (CAS 59-23-4) is a naturally occurring hexose monosaccharide commonly found in dairy products as a component of lactose. It is a six-carbon sugar structurally classified within the hexoses and serves primarily as a metabolic substrate, where it is enzymatically converted into glucose for cellular energy production. Clinically, galactose has limited direct therapeutic indications but plays essential roles in the formulation of vaccines and certain pharmaceutical agents.
One of the notable applications of galactose is in the development of the live oral typhoid vaccine Ty21a. Galactose is critical in cultivating Salmonella typhimurium galE mutants used in this vaccine. These mutants lack UDP-galactose 4-epimerase, which disrupts typical lipopolysaccharide (LPS) synthesis, resulting in avirulence due to incomplete LPS lacking O-specific side chains. Supplementation with exogenous galactose enables the production of complete LPS with O-specific side chains, facilitating an effective immunologic response. Simultaneously, the accumulation of galactose metabolism intermediates in these mutants induces bacteriolysis, maintaining vaccine safety by preventing reversion to virulence.
Galactose also constitutes part of lactulose, a synthetic disaccharide utilized as a laxative and in the management of hepatic encephalopathy. Lactulose resists hydrolysis in the upper gastrointestinal tract, reaching the colon intact where bacterial fermentation produces organic acids. This acidification and increased osmotic pressure increase stool water content, resulting in softened stools and facilitating laxation.
Although galactose has been investigated in various experimental settings including hepatic disease diagnostics, diabetic macular oedema, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, and aging models, these studies remain exploratory without established clinical applications.
Pharmacokinetically, galactose is absorbed in the small intestine and metabolized primarily in the liver via the Leloir pathway to glucose. Safety considerations include its role in galactosemia, a hereditary disorder of galactose metabolism, where accumulation may cause toxicity; thus, regulatory compliance requires attention to purity and absence of contaminants.
For API procurement, sourcing of galactose should prioritize compliance with pharmacopeial standards, ensuring high purity, consistent physicochemical properties, and the absence of microbial contaminants or endotoxins. Given its pharmaceutical utility, including vaccine manufacture, quality assurance processes must rigorously verify identity, assay, and related substances to meet global regulatory requirements.
One of the notable applications of galactose is in the development of the live oral typhoid vaccine Ty21a. Galactose is critical in cultivating Salmonella typhimurium galE mutants used in this vaccine. These mutants lack UDP-galactose 4-epimerase, which disrupts typical lipopolysaccharide (LPS) synthesis, resulting in avirulence due to incomplete LPS lacking O-specific side chains. Supplementation with exogenous galactose enables the production of complete LPS with O-specific side chains, facilitating an effective immunologic response. Simultaneously, the accumulation of galactose metabolism intermediates in these mutants induces bacteriolysis, maintaining vaccine safety by preventing reversion to virulence.
Galactose also constitutes part of lactulose, a synthetic disaccharide utilized as a laxative and in the management of hepatic encephalopathy. Lactulose resists hydrolysis in the upper gastrointestinal tract, reaching the colon intact where bacterial fermentation produces organic acids. This acidification and increased osmotic pressure increase stool water content, resulting in softened stools and facilitating laxation.
Although galactose has been investigated in various experimental settings including hepatic disease diagnostics, diabetic macular oedema, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, and aging models, these studies remain exploratory without established clinical applications.
Pharmacokinetically, galactose is absorbed in the small intestine and metabolized primarily in the liver via the Leloir pathway to glucose. Safety considerations include its role in galactosemia, a hereditary disorder of galactose metabolism, where accumulation may cause toxicity; thus, regulatory compliance requires attention to purity and absence of contaminants.
For API procurement, sourcing of galactose should prioritize compliance with pharmacopeial standards, ensuring high purity, consistent physicochemical properties, and the absence of microbial contaminants or endotoxins. Given its pharmaceutical utility, including vaccine manufacture, quality assurance processes must rigorously verify identity, assay, and related substances to meet global regulatory requirements.
Identification & chemistry
| Generic name | Galactose |
|---|---|
| Molecule type | Small molecule |
| CAS | 59-23-4 |
| UNII | X2RN3Q8DNE |
| DrugBank ID | DB11735 |
Pharmacology
| Summary | Galactose serves as a critical substrate in the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharides with O-specific side chains in attenuated Salmonella vaccines, facilitating immunogenicity while maintaining avirulence through mutant cell lysis. Additionally, galactose is a key structural component of lactulose, a synthetic disaccharide that undergoes colonic bacterial fermentation to produce organic acids, increasing osmotic pressure and softening stool for laxative effects. Beyond its metabolic role as a monosaccharide convertible to glucose, galactose's therapeutic applications primarily involve vaccine development and laxative formulations. |
|---|---|
| Mechanism of action | In the development of typhoid Ty21a live oral vaccine, the use of exogenous galactose is critical. When dealing with Salmonella typhimurium, it has been shown that rough strains with incomplete lipopolysaccharide (LPS) lacking O-specific side chains are much less virulent than smooth strains with complete LPS with O-specific side chains . Salmonella typhimurium gal E mutants used to produce the vaccine are effectively avirulent and highly protective but lack the specific UDP-galactose 4-epimerase enzyme which allows for the normal synthesis of UDP-galactose from UDP-glucose . The consequence of this mutant defect is that the gal E mutants can only generate incomplete LPS without O-specific antigen side chains, which are not capable enough as the complete LPS with O-specific side chains at generating an immunologic response . When exogenous galactose is added to the vaccine medium, however, it allows the mutants to generate UDP-galactose via galactose 1-phosphate . This ultimately allows the mutants to form smooth-type LPS with O-specific side chains . Regardless, the mutant's epimerase defect ultimately results in the accumulation of such intermediary products like galactose 1-phosphate and UDP-galactose, which consequently causes lysis of the mutant cells. The resultant vaccine is subsequently effective enough to elicit an immunologic response while the bacteriolysis prevents the mutant cells from regaining virulence under conditions where smooth type LPS similar to the active parental strain is synthesized . Galactose is also an essential element to the chemical structure of the commonly used laxative solution lactulose. Lactulose itself is a synthetic disaccharide that is made in parts from lactose, galactose, and various other sugars . It is poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and no enzyme capable of hydrolysis of lactulose is present in human gastrointestinal tissue . Oral doses of lactulose subsequently arrive at the colon largely unchanged . At the colon, lactulose is finally broken down predominantly to lactic acid, and also small amounts of formic and acetic acids by the action of colonic bacteria, which results in an increase in osmotic pressure and slight acidification of the colonic contents . This action consequently causes an increase in stool water content and softens the stool for a laxative effect . |
| Pharmacodynamics | Galactose is a naturally occurring monosaccharide that forms the disaccharide lactose when combined with glucose (another monosaccharide) . Subsequently, when lactose or small amounts of free galactose found in various common dairy products (and other foods) are consumed, the hydrolysis of lactose to glucose and galactose occurs and galactose is itself further metabolized to generate glucose . Such glucose is, of course, ultimately relied upon and used as the primary metabolic fuel for humans in a variety of biological reactions. Conversely, however, the ways in which galactose is commonly used in therapeutic agents generally do not rely upon such pharmacodynamics, even though they ultimately remain the most important ways in which galactose exerts or elicits useful biological actions for the human body. |
ADME / PK
| Absorption | The absorption of galactose from the human jejunum was calculated to be 1.0 g per minute per 30 cm of the gut . |
|---|---|
| Half-life | Readily accessible data regarding the half-life of galactose is not available. |
| Protein binding | Readily accessible data regarding the protein binding of galactose is not available. |
| Metabolism | The primary pathway for galactose metabolism is called the Leloir pathway, so named after Luis Federico Leloir. The initial stage of this pathway is the conversion of beta-D-galactose to alpha-D-galactose by the enzyme galactose mutarotase (GALM) . The pathway then performs the conversion of alpha-D-galactose to UDP-glucose by way of three principal enzymes and their reactions: galactokinase (GALK) phosphorylates alpha-D-galactose to galactose-1-phosphate (Gal-1-P); galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT) transfers a UMP group from UDP-glucose to Gal-1-P to form UDP-galactose; and finally, UDP galactose-4-epimerase (GALE) interconverts UDP-galactose and UDP-glucose, which completes the pathway . |
| Route of elimination | The primary route of elimination for galactose is hepatic [L2633, A32864]. |
| Volume of distribution | It has been documented that galactose distributes in a volume equivalent to 40% of body weight . |
| Clearance | In subjects with no liver disease, systemic galactose clearance was calculated to be 1.5 +/- 0.1 L/min . |
Formulation & handling
- Galactose is a small molecule hexose sugar suitable for intravenous and intrauterine administration.
- High water solubility facilitates formulation as powder for solution or suspension.
- Formulation handling should consider its hydrophilic nature and potential stability in aqueous media.
Regulatory status
| Lifecycle | The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) has reached patent expiry in Canada, allowing for generic market entry and increased competition. The product is currently in a mature phase with established safety and efficacy profiles. |
|---|
| Markets | Canada |
|---|
Supply Chain
| Supply chain summary | The supply landscape for Galactose includes multiple originator companies producing branded formulations such as Echovist and Levovist, primarily available in the Canadian market. These branded products have limited global distribution, with no noted presence in US or EU markets. Patent expirations suggest potential entry or existing availability of generic competitors within this segment. |
|---|
Safety
| Toxicity | It is typically uncommon to experience an overdosage situation with dietary galactose or from galactose as an ingredient in a therapeutic agent. At the same time, the experiencing a situation characterized by excessive amounts of galactose in the body defines the challenge with galactosemia, which is itself a rare genetic metabolic disorder. In individuals with galactosemia, the enzymes needed for further metabolism of galactose (ie. such as galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase) are severely diminished or missing entirely, leading to toxic levels of galactose 1-phosphate in various tissues . This toxic excess typically results in hepatomegaly, cirrhosis, renal failure, cataracts, vomiting, hypoglycemia, lethargy, brain damage, and ovarian failure . Without treatment, mortality in infants with galactosemia is about 75% . |
|---|
High Level Warnings:
- Galactose accumulation is toxic in individuals with galactosemia due to deficient galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase activity, potentially causing multi-organ damage
- Handling of galactose should consider its limited metabolic clearance in rare genetic disorders
- Exposure risks are primarily relevant in susceptible populations
Galactose is a type of Contrast Media
Contrast media, a prominent category in the pharmaceutical API sector, plays a crucial role in medical imaging procedures. These specialized substances enhance the visibility of internal body structures during diagnostic tests such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs. By optimizing the contrast between different tissues or organs, contrast media enable healthcare professionals to obtain clearer and more detailed images for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning.
Contrast media can be classified into two main types: iodinated and gadolinium-based. Iodinated contrast agents are commonly used in X-ray and CT examinations, while gadolinium-based agents are employed in MRI scans. Both types are designed to interact with specific imaging technologies and provide contrasting properties to the surrounding tissues.
These pharmaceutical APIs are meticulously developed and undergo rigorous testing to ensure safety and efficacy. They are administered intravenously, orally, or via other routes, depending on the imaging technique and medical requirements. Contrast media are carefully formulated to optimize patient comfort and minimize adverse reactions.
Healthcare providers must consider various factors when selecting contrast media, including the patient's medical history, potential allergies, and the specific imaging procedure. Moreover, ongoing research and technological advancements in contrast media aim to improve image quality, reduce side effects, and enhance patient outcomes.
In summary, contrast media are an essential component of modern medical imaging. Their purpose is to enhance image visibility, aid in accurate diagnosis, and contribute to effective treatment planning. Through continuous advancements and stringent quality control, contrast media continue to play a vital role in improving medical imaging techniques and patient care.
