More than 537 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. It is therefore essential to find new drugs to treat the causes and consequences. In an international study unveiled by INSERM this Wednesday, June 13, scientists announce that they have designed a new class of drugs capable of treating this pathology. (source 1)
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by a long-lasting excess of blood sugar concentration due to insulin resistance. This is the most common form in adults. Until today, researchers have not been able to treat its origin.
“At present, all available drugs treat the consequences of type 2 diabetes by focusing primarily on glycemic regulation, but do not target the underlying biological mechanism that causes the disease,” explains INSERM.
A treatment that regulates blood sugar levels
But that may change very soon. According to the institute, this new product called PASTA would allow “to treat the very origin of type 2 diabetes and the associated co-morbidities, in particular insulin resistance”. It is part of a new class of anti-diabetic drugs called “Adipeutics” (for “therapies specifically targeting the adipocyte”).
Indeed, the treatment directly targets the adipocytes. These cells, present in adipose tissue, allow the storage of fat in the body. Type 2 diabetes disrupts their functioning: they can no longer absorb sugar. By administering PATAS to diabetic mouse models, researchers were able to restore glucose uptake and to restore the metabolic physiology of adipose tissue.
“Thanks to PATAS, adipocytes that no longer had access to glucose are once again able to absorb glucose and then metabolize it in order to synthesize and secrete lipids that are beneficial for the whole organism while absorbing extremely toxic lipids, non-esterified fatty acids The effects are visible in animals, with a marked improvement in insulin resistanceand a whole host of other parameters and comorbidities, in particular better glycemic regulation, a reduction in steatosis and liver fibrosis”, explains Vincent Marion of the medical genetics laboratory (Inserm / University of Strasbourg).
These promising results in animals pave the way for a potential clinical trial in humans. In the more or less near future, PATAS could therefore help millions of people around the world.
