DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for ulcerative proctosigmoiditis — screening already-approved drugs against its 32-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleUlcerative proctosigmoiditis maps to a 32-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 ulcerative proctosigmoiditis 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
dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (DLD) — DLD 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 faddrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 6I4R · 1.439 Å · ligand FLAVIN-ADENINE DINUCLEOTIDE (FAD). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In a study of 85 young patients whose ulcerative proctosigmoiditis began before age 21 (mean onset 16 years), 38% showed proximal extension of disease to the hepatic flexure or beyond, compared with roughly 10% in adults. Extension was unpredictable but occurred within five years in 73% of those cases. Among the 62% whose disease remained confined to the descending colon or rectosigmoid, the course was milder, with few complications. In the extension group, disease was more active and severe, with a high rate of intestinal and extraintestinal complications; 15 patients from that group required colectomy. The natural history in young patients is therefore different from adults chiefly in the greater tendency to proximal spread.
An open-label study tested ecabet sodium enemas (1 g twice daily for 14 days) in seven patients with mildly to moderately active ulcerative proctosigmoiditis who had not responded to four weeks of standard topical and systemic treatment. Six of the seven completed the study and achieved clinical, endoscopic, and histological remission. Their mean Clinical Activity Index fell from 5.3 to 0.5, colonoscopic score from 3.0 to 0.8, and histological score from 2.7 to 0.5. One patient withdrew because of increased stool frequency. No side effects were attributed to the therapy. Five of the six responders remained in remission at a median follow-up of five months. The authors call for a controlled study to confirm these results.
Two identically designed, industry-funded, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trials assessed budesonide foam (2 mg per 25 mL twice daily for two weeks, then once daily for four weeks) in 546 patients with ulcerative proctitis or ulcerative proctosigmoiditis. The abstract states that safe, effective alternatives to conventional steroid therapy are lacking, but does not report the actual response rates or remission numbers for budesonide foam in this summary. The trial results are not given in the provided text.
What is still missing: for ecabet sodium, a controlled trial with adequate sample size; for budesonide foam, the actual efficacy data from the 546-patient trials; and for young patients, prospective studies that stratify by sex and early extension to guide colectomy decisions. No drug is recommended here.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition · 1986 · 67 citations
Course and Prognosis of Idiopathic Ulcerative Proctosigmoiditis in Young Patients
AbstractThe course and prognosis of idiopathic ulcerative proctosigmoiditis were studied in 85 young patients whose symptoms had begun before the age of 21 (mean age at onset, 16 years), and the results were compared with those in adults with proctosigmoiditis. Data regarding extension of disease, available in 66 patients, allowed us to identify two groups of patients. Presenting symptoms were the same in both groups. In Group I (41 patients, 62%), the disease remained stable or did not extend beyond the descending colon. In Group II (25 patients, 38%), there was evidence of extension to the hepatic flexure or beyond. Extension was unpredictable in individual patients, but generally occurred within 5 years from the onset of symptoms (73%). The clinical course and prognosis were different in each group. In Group I, there were more females, the disease ran a milder course, and there were few complications. In Group II, there were relatively more males, the disease was more active and severe, and a high incidence of intestinal and extraintestinal complications was observed. Fifteen patients, all from Group II, required colectomy. The natural history of proctosigmoiditis in young patients is somewhat different from that in adults, being characterized by a greater tendency to proximal extension (38% vs. 10%). However, when the disease remains confined to the rectosigmoid region (or does not spread beyond the splenic flexure), the course and prognosis are no different than in adults.
The American Journal of Gastroenterology · 2001 · 48 citations
Effect of Ecabet Sodium Enema on mildly to moderately active ulcerative proctosigmoiditis: an open-label study
AbstractOBJECTIVES: Ecabet sodium (ES), a nonabsorbable antigastric ulcer agent, has been shown to adhere to the region of an ulcer. It topically enhances gastric mucosal defensive factors such as the endogenous prostaglandins, capsaicin-sensitive sensory nerves, nitric oxide, and mucin. All of these mucosal defensive factors play an important role in maintaining the mucosal integrity of the colon and rectum. Therefore, we investigated the effect of ES in patients with mildly to moderately active ulcerative proctosigmoiditis. METHODS: In an open-label study, seven patients with mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis (UC) who had an inflamed mucosa in the rectum and/or sigmoid and were resistant to 4-wk topical and systemic standard treatment were treated with an ES enema b.i.d. for 14 days. The enema consisted of ES (1 g) and tepid water (20 or 50 ml). These patients were assessed by the Clinical Activity Index, colonoscopically, and histologically before and after the ES therapy. The ES therapy was started after obtaining informed consent from the patients. RESULTS: Six of the seven patients responded to therapy and achieved clinical, endoscopic, and histological remissions. One patient was withdrawn because of increased stool frequency. All six patients who completed the study showed a significant change in the mean Clinical Activity Index score from 5.3+/-1.4 (mean +/- SD) to 0.5+/-0.8 (p < 0.05), in the colonoscopic score from 3.0+/-0.9 to 0.8+/-0.4 (p < 0.05), and in the histological score from 2.7+/-0.5 to 0.5+/-0.6 (p < 0.05), and achieved remission at the end of the study. There were no side effects attributable to the ES therapy. Five of the six patients are still in clinical remission after a median follow-up period of 5 months. CONCLUSIONS: The ES enemas proved to be a safe and potentially useful adjuvant therapy currently available for treating patients with mildly to moderately active ulcerative proctosigmoiditis. A controlled study is necessary to confirm our results.
A New Low-Risk Therapy for Ulcerative Proctitis and Proctosigmoiditis
AbstractSafe, effective alternatives to conventional steroid therapy are lacking in the treatment of ulcerative proctitis and ulcerative proctosigmoiditis.
In two identically designed, industry-funded, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trials, investigators assessed the effectiveness of budesonide foam (2 mg per 25 mL twice daily for 2 weeks, then once daily for 4 weeks) in 546 patients with ulcerative proctitis or ulcerative proctosigmoiditis.
At week 6, treatment with budesonide foam …
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.
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