PRIORITY 2030: Scientists from Mari State University and ITEB RAS have proposed a new drug for the treatment of diabetes and its complications
November 14 is World Diabetes Day, which was established by the International Diabetes Federation together with the World Health Organization in 1991. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the body cannot use the insulin it produces effectively. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 415 million people worldwide have diabetes. Without proper interventions, this number, an increase to 551.8 million people with diabetes by 2030.
Scientists from the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics RAS and Mari State University used alisporivir (Debio-025) to protect the molecular components of heart and muscle cells from oxidative damage in type 2 diabetes and identified a possible mechanism of its antidiabetic action in mice. The drug is currently undergoing phase II clinical trials as a treatment for the new coronavirus infection COVID-19. The results are published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and Biology.
Diabetes mellitus is one of the most pressing medical and social problems of modern society and is one of the four non-communicable diseases that kill people worldwide every year. The disease is characterized by a chronic course and disorders of all types of metabolism, including energy, which is caused by damage to the main energy stations of cells - mitochondria, in a number of vital internal organs and body tissues. Heart disorder (diabetic cardiomyopathy) is increasingly recognized as one of the most dangerous complications of this disease.
A group of scientists from Pushchino headed by Konstantin Belosludtsev, Doctor of Biological Sciences, leading researcher of the Laboratory of Mitochondrial Transport ITEB RAS and professor at MarSU, earlier revealed specific features of mitochondria in myocardial cells and skeletal muscles in the development of type 2 diabetes. The researchers suggested that prevention of disorders of these organelles in the cell by highly selective pharmacological agents could be used as a strategy to combat diabetes and its complications.
Scientists conducted a series of experiments to study the effects of the mitochondrial-directed agent alisporivir on the development of type 2 diabetes in animals induced by a prolonged high-fat diet. The focus was on one of the most vulnerable organs in diabetes, the heart, and the body's largest insulin-dependent tissue, the skeletal muscle.
The results allowed the authors to conclude that alisporivir can be used as part of the complex therapy of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Its cardioprotective effect in diabetes may be due to the prevention of the development of mitochondrial dysfunction and associated oxidative stress in myocardial tissue.
The work was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (№ 20-15-00120).
Figure Alisporivir has a targeted effect on mitochondria and can be used as part of the complex therapy of diabetes mellitus and its complications.