Xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) IRNA compositions and methods of use thereof

1. A double stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) agent for inhibiting expression of a xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) gene,

wherein said dsRNA agent comprises a sense strand and an antisense strand forming a double stranded region, wherein the sense strand comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides differing by no more than 3 nucleotides from the nucleotide sequence of nucleotides 271-309 of SEQ ID NO:1,

wherein the dsRNA agent comprises at least one nucleotide comprising a nucleotide modification, and

wherein the dsRNA agent further comprises a ligand.

2. The dsRNA agent of claim 1 , wherein substantially all of the nucleotides of said sense strand and substantially all of the nucleotides of said antisense strand comprise a nucleotide modification.

3. The dsRNA agent of claim 2 , wherein all of the nucleotides of said sense strand and all of the nucleotides of said antisense strand comprise a nucleotide modification.

4. The dsRNA agent of claim 3 , wherein the modified nucleotides are independently selected from the group consisting of a deoxy-nucleotide, a 3′-terminal deoxy-thymine (dT) nucleotide, a 2′-O-methyl modified nucleotide, a 2′-fluoro modified nucleotide, a 2′-deoxy-modified nucleotide, a locked nucleotide, an unlocked nucleotide, a conformationally restricted nucleotide, a constrained ethyl nucleotide, an abasic nucleotide, a 2′-amino-modified nucleotide, a 2′-O-allyl-modified nucleotide, 2′-C-alkyl-modified nucleotide, 2′-hydroxly-modified nucleotide, a 2′-methoxyethyl modified nucleotide, a 2′-O-alkyl-modified nucleotide, a morpholino nucleotide, a phosphoramidate, a non-natural base comprising nucleotide, a tetrahydropyran modified nucleotide, a 1,5-anhydrohexitol modified nucleotide, a cyclohexenyl modified nucleotide, a nucleotide comprising a phosphorothioate group, a nucleotide comprising a methylphosphonate group, a nucleotide comprising a 5′-phosphate, and a nucleotide comprising a 5′-phosphate mimic.

5. The dsRNA agent of claim 1 , wherein each strand is no more than 30 nucleotides in length.

6. The dsRNA agent of claim 1 , wherein at least one strand comprises a 3′ overhang of at least 1 nucleotide; or at least 2 nucleotides.

7. The dsRNA agent of claim 1 , wherein the ligand is conjugated to the 3′ end of the sense strand of the dsRNA agent.

8. The dsRNA agent of claim 1 , wherein the ligand is an N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) derivative.

9. The dsRNA agent of claim 8 , wherein the ligand is

10. The dsRNA agent of claim 9 , wherein the dsRNA agent is conjugated to the ligand as shown in the following schematic

and, wherein X is O or S.

11. The dsRNA agent of claim 10 , wherein X is O.

12. The dsRNA agent of claim 1 , wherein the double stranded region is 17-30 nucleotide pairs in length; 17-23 nucleotide pairs in length; 17-25 nucleotide pairs in length; 23-27 nucleotide pairs in length; 19-21 nucleotide pairs in length; or 21-23 nucleotide pairs in length.

13. The dsRNA agent of claim 1 , wherein each strand has 15-30 nucleotides; or 19-30 nucleotides.

14. The dsRNA agent of claim 1 , wherein said agent further comprises at least one phosphorothioate or methylphosphonate internucleotide linkage.

15. A pharmaceutical composition for inhibiting expression of an XDH gene comprising the dsRNA agent of claim 1 .

16. A method of inhibiting xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) expression in a cell, the method comprising contacting the cell with the dsRNA agent of claim 1 , thereby inhibiting expression of the XDH gene in the cell.

17. A method of treating a subject having a disease or disorder that would benefit from reduction in XDH expression, the method comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of the dsRNA agent of claim 1 , thereby treating said subject.

18. The dsRNA agent of claim 1 , wherein the antisense strand comprises at least 17 contiguous nucleotides differing by no more than three nucleotides from the nucleotide sequence of the complement of nucleotides 271-309 of SEQ ID NO:1.

19. The dsRNA agent of claim 18 , wherein the antisense strand comprises at least 17 contiguous nucleotides differing by no more than three nucleotides from any one of the nucleotide sequences selected from the group consisting of

(SEQ ID NO:689)

5'-UUGGCAGAAAAGUGGACGA-3'; 

and

(SEQ ID NO:690)

5'-AUGGGGGCCAGGCAGGCAU-3'.

20. The dsRNA agent of claim 19 , wherein the sense strand and the antisense strand comprise nucleotide sequences selected from the group consisting of

(SEQ ID NO:375)

5'-UCGUCCACUUUUCUGCCAA-3' 

and

(SEQ ID NO:689)

5'-UUGGCAGAAAAGUGGACGA-3';

and

(SEQ ID NO:376)

5'-AUGCCUGCCUGGCCCCCAU-3'

and

(SEQ ID NO:690)

5'-AUGGGGGCCAGGCAGGCAU-3'.