the following examples will be illustrated below in detail as test examples and preparation examples , but are not construed to limit the technical scope of the present invention . glycosaminoglycan degrading enzyme ( chondroitinase abc ( seikagaku corporation ) was used herein ; hereinafter sometimes referred simply to as cabc ) was subjected to the acute toxicity test . chondroitinase abc was intravenously administered once to five male and five female rats in a dose of 2 , 000 u / kg . for 14 days after the administration , the rats were observed for their general sign and survival and were weighed . after 14 days , the rats were subjected to autopsy , and their main organs were macroscopically observed . as a result , no animal died and no change was observed for general sign , the body weight , and finding in autopsy . thus , the no adverse level of chondroitinase abc by intravenous administration to rats is estimated as 2 , 000 u / kg . chondroitinase abc was administered once to the epidural space of the vertebral canal of two male and two female beagles in a dose of 40 u / animal . for 4 weeks after the administration , the dogs were observed for their general sign and survival and were weighed . after 4 weeks , the beagles were subjected to autopsy , and their main organs were macroscopically observed . as a result , no animal died and no change was observed for general sign , the body weight , and finding in autopsy . thus , the no adverse level of chondroitinase abc by administration to the epidural space of dogs is estimated as 40 u / kg . study of the effect of glycosaminoglycan degrading enzyme on enhancement of disappearance of nucleus pulposus migrating in the vertebral epidural space the effect of glycosaminoglycan degrading enzyme on enhancement of disappearance of nucleus pulposus migrating in the vertebral epidural space was studied using a rabbit by transplanting nucleus pulposus labeled with fluorescence into the epidural space of the rabbit , administering glycosaminoglycan degrading enzyme to the vertebral epidural space , and determining the change in the amount of glycosaminoglycan in the transplanted fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus . in this experiment , a decrease in the amount of glycosaminoglycan in the transplanted fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus means enhancement of disappearance of nucleus pulposus . after preparing the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus , about 50 mg of it was transplanted into the vertebral epidural space of a rabbit . immediately thereafter , 2 ml of 25 u / ml of glycosaminoglycan degrading enzyme , which was chondroitinase abc herein , was administered to the vertebral epidural space of the rabbit . on the next day , the rabbit was sacrificed and the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was collected to measure the amount of glycosaminoglycan in the collected fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus . a normal jw female rabbit weighing about 3 kg was used as an animal for collecting the nucleus pulposus referred to as nucleus pulposus - donor animal . a normal jw female rabbit weighing about 3 kg was used as an animal into which the nucleus pulposus is transplanted referred to as nucleus pulposus - recipient animal . as the test substance including glycosaminoglycan degrading enzyme , a mixed solution of 0 . 5 ml of chondroitinase abc ( seikagaku corporation ; 1 , 000 u / rnl ) and 10 ml of phosphate - buffered saline was used . the group constitution used in this test is shown in table 1 . table 1______________________________________ number of group test substance dose animals______________________________________control substance - pbs 2 ml / animal 5 administered group cabc - administered 47 . 6 u / ml cabc 2 ml / animal 6 group______________________________________ intervertebral discs of l6 / l7 , l5 / l6 , l4 / l5 , l3 / l4 , and l2 / l3 were taken out from nucleus pulposus donor animal ( rabbit ). nucleus pulposus was collected and pooled in a 50 - ml centrifuge tube . a 10 μl portion of a 50 mg / ml n , n - dimethylformamide ( dmf ) solution of fluorescein isothiocyanate ( fitc ) was added to the 50 - ml centrifuge tube containing nucleus pulposus and mixed . this centrifuge tube was allowed to stand at 0 ° c . for 5 days in a dark room . on day 6 , nucleus pulposus in the centrifuge tube was divided in 50 - mg portions and each portion was put into a tube containing phosphate - buffered saline . the tubes were centrifuged for washing of nucleus pulposus . the thus - obtained nucleus pulposus was referred to as &# 34 ; fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus &# 34 ;. the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was used to transplant to 5 animals in the control substance - administered group and 6 animals in the cabc - administered group . the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was transplanted into the vertebral epidural space under inhalation anesthesia with halothane ( trade name ; takeda chemical industries ). the hair - cut part on the back through the tail of the nucleus pulposus - recipient animals was disinfected with ethanol and isozin ( trade name ; meiji seika ) and then fixed . the skin on the back was cut by about 4 cm with a scalpel and dissected . spinous process and vertebral arch were removed and yellow ligament between l5 and l6 was vertically dissected . with making space using a spartale , 50 mg of the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was transplanted into th e tail side . the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was transplanted into the vertebral epidural space of l6 . after transplantation , the dissected site was sutured . in order to administer the test substance , the skin in the vicinity of l6 / l7 intervertebral disc at the tail side from the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus - transplanted site was dissected . the test substance was administered into the vertebral epidural space from l6 / l7 intervertebral disc at the tail side from the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus - transplanted site at a rate of 0 . 5 ml / min using an infusion pump . after completion of administration , the dissected site was sutured and disinfected with isozin ( trade name ; meiji seika ). on the next day , the nucleus pulposus recipient animals were sacrificed by exsanguination . the part from vertebrae lumbales l2 to cauda equina was excised and vertebral canal was exposed from the abdominal side . then , the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was recovered from the embedded part under the spinal cord . the recovered fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was lyophilized . after completion of lyophilization , the lyophilizate was weighed . the weighed samples were transferred to another tube . a 1 ml portion of a 0 . 25 % actinase solution was added thereto to effect digestion at 55 ° c . for about 3 hours and a half . after the digestion , the reaction mixture was heat - treated at 100 ° c . for 10 minutes to deactivate actinase . thus , a solution of actinase - digested fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was obtained . in order to quantify various glycosaminoglycans , namely chondroitin sulfate , keratan sulfate , and hyaluronan , in the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus , the solution of actinase - digested fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was digested with the following glycosaminoglycan lyase . ( 2 - 8 - 3 - 1 ) digestion with chondroitinase a 100 μl portion of the solution of actinase - digested fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus was put into a tube . then , 20 μl of 5 u / ml chondroitinase abc ( seikagaku corporation ) was added thereto . the digestion reaction was carried out at 37 ° c . for 2 hours under slightly stirring . after completion of the digestion , 20 μl of 5 u / ml chondroitinase ac - ii ( seikagaku corporation ) and 20 μl of 1m sodium acetate buffer ( ph 6 . 0 ) were added to the reaction mixture . the digestion reaction was carried out again at 37 ° c . for 2 hours under slightly stirring to obtain chondroitinase - digested product of the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus . this digestion product was used as a sample for quantification of chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronan in the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus . chondroitin sulfate in the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus can be quantified by detecting δdi - 6s which represents 2 - acetamido - 2 - deoxy - 3 - o -( β - d - gluco - 4 - enopyranosyluronic acid )- 6 - o - sulfo - d - galactose , δdi - 4s which represents 2 - acetamido - 2 - deoxy - 3 - o -( β - d - gluco - 4 - enopyranosyluronic acid )- 4 - o - sulfo - d - galactose , and δd i - 0s which represents 2 - acetamido - 2 - deoxy - 3 - o -( β - d - gluco - 4 - enopyranosyluronic acid )- d - galactose , derived from chondroitin sulfate contained in this digested product , by high - performance liquid chromatography as described later . on the other hand , hyaluronan in the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus can be quantified by detecting δdi - ha which represents 2 - acetamido - 2 - deoxy - 3 - o -( β - d - gluco - 4 - enopyranosyluronic acid )- d - glucose , derived from hyaluronan contained in this digested product , by high - performance liquid chromatography as described later . a 100 μl portion of the solution of the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus digested with actinase was put into a tube . then , 20 μl of 0 . 1 u / ml keratanase prepared by the method described in wo96 / 16166 and 20 μl of 1m sodium acetate buffer ( ph 6 . 0 ) were added thereto . the digestion was performed at 37 ° c . for 48 hours under slightly stirring to obtain the digestion product of the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus with keratanase . this digestion product was used as a sample for quantification of keratan sulfate in the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus . keratan sulfate in the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus can be quantified by detecting gal - glcnac ( 6s ) ( hereinafter sometimes referred to as l2 ) and gal ( 6s )- glcnac ( 6s ) ( hereinafter sometimes referred to as l4 ), wherein gal represents a galactose residue , glcnac represents an n - acetylglucosamine residue , ( 6s ) represents 6 - o - sulfate ester , and -- represents a glycoside bond , derived from keratan sulfate contained in the digestion product by high - performance liquid chromatography as described later . after digestion with glycosaminoglycan lyase , the whole amount of each digestion product was subjected to ultrafiltration using centrifuge ultrafiltration tube with molecular weight cutoff of 10 , 000 ( trade name : ultrafree , millipore ). a 5 to 10 μl portion of the filtrate resulted from the above ultrafiltration was applied onto the hplc column . the hplc conditions for analysis of δdi - 6s , δdi - 4s , and l4 are described below . ( 1 ) column : senshu pack n ( ch 3 ) 2 - 315 - n , φ8 mm × 15 cm ( senshu kagaku ); the hplc conditions for analysis of δdi - ha , δdi - os , and l2 are described below . ( 1 ) column : asahi pack nh2p , φ4 . 6 mm × 25 cm × 2 columns ( asahi chemical industry ); fig1 shows the content of δdi - ha , which is an index for the content of hyaluronan , δdi - cs showing the total content of δdi - 6s , δdi - 4s , and δdi - 0s , which is an index for the content of chondroitin sulfate , and di - ks showing the total content of l2 and l4 , which is an index of the content of keratan sulfate , in the fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus in the control substance - administered group and the cabc - administered group . in fig1 pbs represents for the control substance - administered group , and c - abc for the cabc - administered group . further , in fig1 ha , cs , and ks represent hyaluronan , chondroitin sulfate , and keratan sulfate , respectively . ** means that there is a significant difference with p & lt ; 0 . 05 and * means there is a significant difference with p & lt ; 0 . 1 , between the two groups as a result of the t - test . as a result , the contents of any glycosaminoglycan in the transplanted fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus in the cabc - administered group was remarkably reduced as compared with those in the control substance - administered group . particularly , there was statistically significant decrease in the contents of chondroitin sulfate and keratan sulfate in the transplanted fluorescence - labeled nucleus pulposus in the cabc - administered group as compared with those in the control substance - administered group . further , as a result of histological observation , infiltration of phagocyte was observed in a shorter period of time in the cabc - administered group as compared with the control substance - administered group . a number of granulocytes and macrophages also infiltrated in the cabc - administered group . phagocytosis of epidurally migrating nucleus pulposus by these phagocytes took place . it was indicated that administration of cabc also enhances phagocytosis of epidurally migrating nucleus pulposus by phagocytes . as a result of further observation , cabc did not affect spinal cord at all . this result revealed that cabc administered in the vertebral epidural space not only functions to extremely efficiently digest nucleus pulposus in the vertebral epidural space but also enhances phagocytosis of epidurally migrating nucleus pulposus by phagocytes to extremely efficiently eliminate epidurally migrating nucleus pulposus . it was also indicated that cabc digested only nucleus pulposus in the vertebral epidural space without making any influence on spinal cord . from the above results , it was found that the composition for administration to vertebral epidural space comprising a glycosaminoglycan degrading enzyme and the therapeutic agent for epidurally migrating herniated intervertebral disc comprising a glycosaminoglycan degrading enzyme as an active ingredient have the effect to extremely efficiently and effectively eliminating epidurally migrating nucleus pulposus without affecting spinal cord by not only efficiently digesting nucleus pulposus of herniated intervertebral disc migrating in the vertebral epidural space but also enhancing phagocytosis of nucleus pulposus by phagocytes . 1 ) a mixture of 0 . 5 ml of chondroitinase abc ( seikagaku corporation ; 1 , 000 u / ml ) and 10 ml of phosphate - buffered saline was filter sterilized and distributed into ampules in 2 ml portions . the ampules were sealed . thus , injectable preparations for treatment of epidurally migrating herniated intervertebral disc were produced . 2 ) keratanase ii which is keratan sulfate endo - β - n - acetylglucosaminidase ( seikagaku corporation ) ( final concentration of 20 u / ml ), saccharose ( final concentration of 1 % ( w / w )), and polyethylene glycol 4000 ( final concentration of 2 % ( w / w )) were dissolved in 10 mm phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 0 ). the mixture was distributed in 0 . 5 ml portions / vial and lyophilized . the lyophilization was carried out by cooling from room temperature to - 45 ° c . for freezing , effecting first drying for 12 hours under reduced pressure at 60 mtorr , raising the temperature up to 25 ° c . with 12 hours , and effecting second drying at 25 ° c . for 10 hours . after drying , the vials were pressured with nitrogen gas and plugged . thus , the injectable lyophilized composition for administration to the vertebral epidural space were produced .
a pharmaceutical composition and an agent that can be used for treatment of epidurally migrating herniated intervertebral disc are provided . the composition comprises a glycosaminoglycan degrading enzyme , preferably chondroitinase , more preferably chondroitinase abc , in an amount effective to dissolve nucleus pulposus epidurally existing .