Researchers at the University of Bristol have developed a new class of inhibitors that can prevent microvascular complications of diabetes, including diabetic eye and kidney disease.
This study Cardiovascular Diabetologywas funded by the Medical Research Council.
Diabetes, which is estimated to affect 1 in 11 adults worldwide, is a metabolic disease in which blood sugar levels become uncontrolled and can lead to life-altering complications, including microvasculature. there is.
Macrovascular complications of diabetes can have long-term effects such as high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, and kidney disease in various parts of the body, including large blood vessels such as the coronary arteries, aorta, and cerebral aorta. And limbs.
Current treatments for patients who develop microvascular complications, such as diabetic eye disease and kidney disease, do not completely slow progression and may ultimately lead to blindness and kidney failure in patients. .
Using two mouse models, researchers found that preventing damage to the glycocalyx, the protective layer of all blood vessels that is damaged in diabetes, can stop the development of these microvascular diseases.
Using heparanase inhibitors, which act like scissors when damaging the lining of the glycocalyx, researchers have developed a new class of drugs that could be developed to treat patients to stop this damage from occurring.
Dr Rebecca Foster, from the University of Bristol and lead author of the study, said: “Our findings… show that certain types of drugs may be able to prevent a range of diabetic complications.”
Lead author of the study, Dr Monica Games from the University of Bristol, said:
“We hope [diabetes] In the future, patients may benefit from our discoveries. ”
Last month, a study led by scientists at King’s College London and international academics found that Chiron’s non-incisional device ForePass could treat type 2 diabetes, steatohepatitis associated with metabolic dysfunction, and severe obesity. It turns out that it has the potential to bring about a revolution.
The ForePass device mimics invasive metabolic surgery without making incisions in the patient, and Keyron plans to begin clinical trials, which are expected to begin in early 2025.
