New
Drug Holds Promise for People with Diabetes
Complications
from diabetes might be avoided in the future with a new drug under
development to slow the nerve damage that can lead to blindness or
amputations.
Tests of the drug have begun in people, though it could be years
before the medication might gain approval for widespread use. But
research presented last week in Orlando showed encouraging results
in early studies.
The drug is meant to slow complications such as damage to kidneys,
eyesight, nerves and circulation.
"This will not prevent everything, but we believe the vast
majority of diabetic complications could be addressed," said
Michael C. Van Zandt, director of chemistry at The Institute for
Diabetes Discovery in Branford, Conn., which is developing the
drug.
With 16 million Americans suffering from diabetes, researchers
long have been looking for ways to prevent the grave consequences
of the illness.
People with diabetes have trouble with insulin, the hormone that
regulates sugar. Those with the most common form of the disease --
type 2 diabetes -- make insulin, but their bodies do not use it
effectively. People with the less-common type 1 diabetes stop
making insulin altogether.
Diabetics struggle to keep their sugar levels in check or risk
serious problems. About 24,000 people a year go blind because of
diabetes and another 56,200 lose a foot or leg to diabetic
amputation, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Loss of nerve function is a frequent complication, and it often is
followed by circulatory problems that lead to debilitating side
effects such as amputations.
"When the nerves don't function well, the blood vessels
around them don't work well, either," Van Zandt said.
His company's experimental drug, called Lidorestat, works by
interfering with an enzyme called aldose reductase, which pushes
the body to turn glucose into another form of sugar called
sorbitol.
Everyone has aldose reductase, but healthy people do not make much
use of the enzyme. In contrast, aldose reductase kicks into high
gear in people with diabetes, and they churn out large amounts of
sorbitol.
This form of sugar can cause problems in some parts of the body.
In the eyes, high sorbitol levels can cause cells to swell and
die, which leads to vision problems.
In animal studies of his company's drug, Lidorestat was found to
interfere with aldose reductase and shut down production of
sorbitol, Van Zandt said. The animals suffered less nerve damage
as a result.
Now that human testing has begun, about 225 people at 18 different
sites in North America are to take the drug for six months. The
medication is not meant to replace other medications taken to
control glucose levels.
"People have been working on this area for 30 years,"
Van Zandt said. "It's just a very slow, evolving
process."
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DID
YOU KNOW?
By
2010, ten percent of the population will have diabetes!
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