HIGHLY PURIFIED ETHYL EPA AND OTHER EPA DERIVATIVES
A pharmaceutical preparation comprising EPA in an appropriately assimilable form where of all the fatty acids present in the preparation at least 90%, and preferably at least 95%, is in the form of EPA and where less than 5%, and preferably less than 3%, is in the form of DHA is provided.
1 . A pharmaceutical composition comprising ethyl eicosapentaenoic acid, wherein the pharmaceutical composition contains less than about 5%, in aggregate, of any fatty acid that competes with eicosapentaenoic acid for binding to a biological site of action.
2 . The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition contains less than 5% of any single fatty acid that competes with eicosapentaenoic acid for binding to a biological site of action.
3 . The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition contains less than 3% of any single fatty acid that competes with eicosapentaenoic acid for binding to a biological site of action.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the relevant site of action comprises phosphlipids, an enzyme, or a membrane.
5 . The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition contains less than 5%, in aggregate, of docosahexaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, arachidonic acid, and derivatives thereof.
6 . The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition contains less than 3% of each of docosahexaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, arachidonic acid, and derivatives thereof.
7 . The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 , wherein the ethyl eicosapentaenoic acid is present in an amount of 250 mg to 1000 mg.
8 . The pharmaceutical composition of claim 7 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition is present in capsule, emulsion, solution, dispersion, suppository, pessary, powder microcapsule, tablet, topical patch, or intravenous solution form.
9 . The pharmaceutical composition of claim 4 , wherein the enzyme is selected from the group consisting of: a phospholipase, a phospholipase A 2 , PLC, coenzyme A, a fatty acid coenzyme A ligase, FACL-4, an acyl-CoA synthetase, an acyl-CoA:lysophopholipid acytransferase, an acyltransferase, caspase I, and interleukin converting enzyme (ICE).