Researchers from the University of Bristol, UK, developed a new type of inhibitor drug to prevent complications from diabetes, such as diabetic eye and kidney disease, according to a study published in Cardiovascular Diabetology.
Diabetes is a disease that causes uncontrolled blood glucose levels and affects one in 11 adults around the world. Even when patients monitor their condition closely, diabetes can cause multiple complications, impacting small blood vessels in the body (known as microvasculature). There are treatments available for these conditions, including diabetic eye or kidney disease, but they just delay the progression of symptoms. Eventually, patients will experience kidney failure or blindness.
To find a better alternative treatment, the team from Bristol University was interested in studying how diabetes affects the protective lining of blood vessels (which is called glycocalyx). Using mouse models, the researchers managed to develop a new drug that prevents damage to the glycocalyx and, therefore, stops the development of diabetic eye and kidney disease.
Essentially, the new drug inhibits the activity of a chemical called heparanase, which acts like a pair of scissors to damage the glycocalyx lining in blood vessels. In turn, heparanase inhibitors stop this damage. The authors have developed a novel class of these drugs, which they hope could be successfully developed as a medication to treat patients in the future.
“Our findings are exciting as we have shown that one type of medication might be able to prevent different diabetic complications, which is a global health problem for adults living with diabetes,” said Dr. Rebecca Foster, Associate Professor of Microvascular Medicine in the Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences (THS).
“We are currently conducting research to advance our novel class of inhibitors to clinical use. With over 8% of the global adult population currently living with diabetes, we hope patients could benefit from our findings in the future,” added Dr Monica Gamez, Research Associate at the Bristol Medical School (THS).
Gamez, M., Elhegni, H.E., Fawaz, S. et al. Heparanase inhibition as a systemic approach to protect the endothelial glycocalyx and prevent microvascular complications in diabetes. Cardiovasc Diabetol 23, 50 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-024-02133-1