Psychiatry Lab · DeCure for X

DeCure for Alcoholic pancreatitis

DeCure's autonomous Psychiatry AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for alcoholic pancreatitis — screening already-approved drugs against its 9-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.

Disease module9 genesLead labPsychiatry
All cures
PsychiatryDOID:4988$DeCurePsych

The disease map

Disease moduleAlcoholic pancreatitis maps to a 9-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.

Research record

01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash

Current lead

No approved-drug candidate for alcoholic pancreatitis is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.

Molecular view

MORC family CW-type zinc finger 4 (MORC4)MORC4 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.

Loading structure…
helix sheet anpdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom

RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 7K7T · 2.94 Å · ligand PHOSPHOAMINOPHOSPHONIC ACID-ADENYLATE ESTER (ANP). Experimental structure, not a prediction.

What the evidence adds up to

Only a small percentage of active drinkers develop alcoholic pancreatitis, and the 2020 review states that alcohol increases pancreatic vulnerability to damage but requires additional risk factors and costressors. The review mentions genetic and environmental factors but does not name any specific drug or treatment.

A 1974 controlled trial of 29 patients with mild to moderately severe acute alcoholic pancreatitis found no significant difference between those treated with nasogastric suction and those treated without it. The suction group showed no advantage in duration of abdominal pain, tenderness, nausea, narcotic requirement, fever, or elevated amylase levels. The non-suction group had earlier return of normal bowel sounds and a smaller risk of prolonged hyperamylasaemia. The authors concluded that nasogastric suction might be elective rather than mandatory in such cases.

A 1973 review of 77 men admitted 102 times for acute pancreatitis at a VA hospital reported four deaths, two from pancreatitis. Surgery was required nine times, for gallstones, cysts, abscess, and other causes. The abstract does not compare any drug therapies or report response rates.

No drug treatment is tested or recommended in any of these abstracts. What is still missing is any randomised trial of a pharmacological intervention for alcoholic pancreatitis, adequate sample sizes to detect meaningful differences in outcomes, and patient stratification by severity or genetic risk factors.

Evidence

Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.

Visceral Medicine · 2020 · 27 citations · open access

What Do We Currently Know about the Pathophysiology of Alcoholic Pancreatitis: A Brief Review

AbstractBACKGROUND: Alcoholic pancreatitis is a serious medical concern worldwide and remains to be one of the common causes of pancreatic disease. SUMMARY: While alcohol consumption causes direct damage to pancreatic tissue, only a small percentage of active drinkers will develop pancreatitis. An explanation of this phenomenon is probably that alcohol increases pancreatic vulnerability to damage; however, the simultaneous presence of additional risk factors and pancreatic costressors is required to increase the risk of pancreatitis and its complications caused by alcohol misuse. Recently, a number of important genetic as well as environmental factors influencing the risk of alcoholic pancreatitis have been described. KEY MESSAGES: In brief, this review reports established factors for the development of alcoholic pancreatitis and summarizes recent progress made in basic and clinical research.

https://doi.org/10.1159/000508173
JAMA · 1974 · 8 citations

Nasogastric suction in the treatment of alcoholic pancreatitis. A controlled study

AbstractTwenty-nine patients with mild to moderately severe acute alcoholic pancreatitis were randomly allocated to treatment with or without nasogastric suction. Antibiotics, anticholinergics, and antacids were not used. No significant differences were found between the two groups in duration of the following: abdominal pain, abdominal tenderness, nausea, narcotic requirement, fever, and elevated serum and urine amylase levels. The data suggested that even though a larger proportion of patients treated with suction became pain-free within the first two days of treatment, treatment without suction was associated with earlier return of normal bowel sounds and smaller risk of prolonged hyperamylasemia. Because nasogastric suction provided no clear-cut advantages in this admittedly small group, it might be considered elective rather than mandatory in the treatment of mild to moderately severe acute alcoholic pancreatitis. (<i>JAMA</i>229:51-52, 1974)

https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.229.1.51
Annals of Internal Medicine · 1973 · 6 citations

Acute Alcoholic Pancreatitis: Effect of Clinical Presentation and Therapies on Outcome at a V.A. Hospital.

AbstractMeeting Abstracts1 May 1973Acute Alcoholic Pancreatitis: Effect of Clinical Presentation and Therapies on Outcome at a V.A. Hospital.Donald M. Switz, M.D.Donald M. Switz, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-78-5-816_4 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptPrevious evaluations of acute pancreatitis have not compared the effects of clinical presentation or therapeutic efforts on outcome. Patients sequentially admitted to all services at the McGuire VA Hospital during 1971 with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis were reviewed to evaluate the effect of presentation or therapy on outcome.Seventy-seven men were admitted 102 times; 4 died, 2 of pancreatitis. Three used no alcohol; 48 had a past history of pancreatitis; and none had previously known gallstones. Surgery was required nine times, for three gallstones, two cysts, one abscess, and three other causes. Various exclusive clinical sub-groups were examined to... This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Donald M. Switz, M.D.Affiliations: Richmond, Virginia PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byDeath due to acute pancreatitisThe Value of Intensive Nutritional Support in PancreatitisInadequate Parathyroid Response in Acute PancreatitisThe Use of Ampicillin in Acute PancreatitisROBERT M. CRAIG, M.D., ERL DORDAL, M.D., F.A.C.P., LEWIS MYLES, M.S., R.PH. 1 May 1973Volume 78, Issue 5 Page: 816-817 Keywords Abscesses Acute pancreatitis Alcoholics Alcohols Pancreatitis Surgery ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 May 1973 PDF downloadLoading ...

https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-78-5-816_4

Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.

DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.