• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.181-189
• /
• 2013

Motilitone$^{(R)}$ (DA-9701) is a new herbal drug that was launched for the treatment of functional dyspepsia in December 2011 in Korea. The heterogeneous symptom pattern and multiple causes of functional dyspepsia have resulted in multiple drug target strategies for its treatment. DA-9701, a compound consisting of a combination of Corydalis Tuber and Pharbitidis Semen, has being developed for treatment of functional dyspepsia. It has multiple mechanisms of action such as fundus relaxation, visceral analgesia, and prokinetic effects. Furthermore, it was found to significantly enhance meal-induced gastric accommodation and increase gastric compliance in dogs. DA-9701 also showed an analgesic effect in rats with colorectal distension induced visceral hypersensitivity and an antinociceptive effect in beagle dogs with gastric distension-induced nociception. The pharmacological effects of DA-9701 also include conventional effects, such as enhanced gastric emptying and gastrointestinal transit. The safety profile of DA-9701 is also preferable to that of other treatments.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2010

Objective: Functional dyspepsia is a prevalent disease. It impedes subjective quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine the equivalent effect of herb medicine treatment (DA-9701) for functional dyspepsia. Methods: In this randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled study, we compared a herb medicine (DA-9701) with standard treatment (mosapride) and placebo for the treatment of functional dyspepsia. 42 volunteers who satisfied the requirements were enrolled in study. Severity of dyspepsia was measured by Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) and Functional Dyspepsia Quality of Life (FD-QOL) before and after treatments. Results: 1. In the DA-9701 group, total key symptoms score was significantly lower and improve rate of key symptoms was higher than in the mosapride and placebo groups, but there were no statistically significant differences between three groups. 2. In the DA-9701 and mosapride groups, "nausea" and "bad breath" were significantly lower compared with the placebo group. 3. In the DA-9701 group, NDI Quality of Life scores were significantly higher, but there were no [other] statistically significant differences between the three groups. 4. In the DA-9701 and mosapride groups, FD-QOL scores were higher compared with the placebo group, but there were no statistically significant differences between the three groups. Conclusion: Herb medicine treatment (DA-9701) is effective to improve the symptoms and quality of life in patients with functional dyspepsia.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.307-312
• /
• 2009

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are pacemaking cells required for gastrointestinal motility. The possibility of whether DA-9701, a novel prokinetic agent formulated with Pharbitis Semen and Corydalis Tuber, modulates pacemaker activities in the ICC was tested using the whole cell patch clamp technique. DA-9701 produced membrane depolarization and increased tonic inward pacemaker currents in the voltage-clamp mode. The application of flufenamic acid, a non-selective cation channel blocker, but not niflumic acid, abolished the generation of pacemaker currents induced by DA-9701. Pretreatment with a $Ca^{2+}$-free solution and thapsigargin, a $Ca^{2+}$-ATPase inhibitor in the endoplasmic reticulum, abolished the generation of pacemaker currents. In addition, the tonic inward currents were inhibited by U-73122, an active phospholipase C inhibitor, but not by $GDP-{\beta}-S$, which permanently binds G-binding proteins. Furthermore, the protein kinase C inhibitors, chelerythrine and calphostin C, did not block the DA-9701-induced pacemaker currents. These results suggest that DA-9701 might affect gastrointestinal motility by the modulation of pacemaker activity in the ICC, and the activation is associated with the non-selective cationic channels via external $Ca^{2+}$ influx, phospholipase C activation, and $Ca^{2+}$ release from internal storage in a G protein-independent and protein kinase C-independent manner.