Medical uses of thiol-functionalized polyglycerol derivatives

A method of treatment of a human or animal patient in need thereof to achieve a reduction of the viscosity of mucus of the patient, the method comprising the following step:

• administering a polyglycerol derivative to the patient, the polyglycerol derivative having a linear or dendritic polyglycerol backbone and carrying at least one thiol group covalently bound to the polyglycerol backbone, wherein the polyglycerol derivative corresponds to the following general formula (I):
• wherein
• dPG denotes a dendritic polyglycerol backbone,
• lPG denotes a linear polyglycerol backbone,
• X is a residue chosen from the group consisting of:
• A is a single-charge anionic counter ion,
• R1, R2 are independently from each other —OH or —OSO3−K+,
• R3 is H or a peptide residue having 1 to 20 amino acid residues,
• R4 is a C1-C10 hydrocarbon chain being optionally interrupted by N, S, and/or O and being at least substituted in such a way to carry at least one thiol group,
• R5 is a peptidyl comprising 1 to 20 amino acid residues, wherein at least one amino acid residue is a cysteine residue,
• K is a single-charge cationic counter ion,
• m is an integer between 1 and 20,
• n is an integer between 5 and 5000,
• o is an integer between 1 and 16, and
• p is an integer between 0 and 5000.