Lorenzo's oil

Common card · No. 265771

Lorenzo's oil is a liquid solution made of 4 parts glycerol trioleate and 1 part glycerol trierucate, which are the triacylglycerol forms of oleic acid and erucic acid. It is prepared from olive oil and rapeseed oil. It is used in the investigational treatment of asymptomatic patients with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a nervous system disorder. Development of the oil was led by Augusto and Michaela Odone after their son Lorenzo was diagnosed with the disease in 1984, at the age of five. Lorenzo was predicted to die within a few years. His parents sought experimental treatment options, and the initial formulation of the oil was developed by retired British scientist Don Suddaby (formerly of Croda International). Suddaby and his colleague, Keith Coupland, received a U.S. patent (since expired) for invention of the oil. The royalties received by Augusto were paid to The Myelin Project which he and Michaela founded to further research treatments for ALD and similar disorders. The Odones and...

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