Against complications of diabetes
The new drug will help with diabetes and its complications
Scientists from The Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences 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 mellitus and identified a possible mechanism of its antidiabetic action in mice. Currently, this drug is undergoing the second phase of clinical trials as a treatment for the new coronavirus infection COVID-19. The results of the work have been published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and Biology. The press service of the ITEB RAS told about the study.
Diabetes mellitus is characterized by a chronic course and a violation 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 tissues of the body. Cardiac dysfunction (diabetic cardiomyopathy) is increasingly recognized as one of the most dangerous complications of this disease.
A group of scientists from Pushchino led by Konstantin Belosludtsev, Doctor of Biological Sciences, a leading researcher at the Laboratory of Mitochondrial Transport of the ITEB RAS and professor of MarGU, previously identified specific features of mitochondria in myocardial cells and skeletal muscles in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Researchers have suggested that the prevention of violations of these organelles in the cell with the help of highly selective pharmacological agents can be used as a strategy to combat diabetes and its complications.
Scientists conducted a series of experiments to study the effect of the mitochondrial-directed agent alisporivir on the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus in animals caused by a long-term diet with a high fat content. Attention was focused on one of the most vulnerable organs in diabetes — the heart and the largest insulin-dependent tissue of the body — skeletal muscles.
"Alisporivir is a highly active selective compound with a wide range of therapeutic effects in various pathologies. Our results showed that it specifically affects the target protein inside the mitochondria (cyclophilin D) and prevents the development of abnormalities of their ultrastructure and functioning caused by diabetes. The use of this drug enhances the degradation of damaged mitochondria (mitophagy), prevents the peroxidation of biomembranes, and also increases the rate of glucose utilization from the blood in mice with diabetes. In addition, animals treated with alisporivir show a tendency to restore heart rate. This suggests that alisporivir acts as a metabolic reprogramming agent aimed at mitochondria and capable of reducing oxidative damage to heart and muscle tissue in mice with diabetes," Konstantin Belosludtsev commented on the work.
The obtained 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 mitochondrial dysfunction and concomitant oxidative stress in myocardial tissue.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru