New molecule EPB-53 could lead to new therapeutic strategies to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes, finds a new study.

‘EPB-53 molecule boosts levels of the FGF21 hormone, a biological factor which plays a decisive role in the control of diabetes and obesity.’
Read More..

Diabetes: research on active drugs orally administratedRead More..





The FGF21 hormone -the fibroblast growth factor 21- is an endocrine factor with a determining role in the energetic metabolism as an anti-diabetes and anti-obesity agent. This hormone, which mainly synthetizes the liver, is regarded as a potential therapeutic target to treat type 2 diabetes and the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which usually occur due to obesity and insulin resistance. However, the FGF21 analog compounds that showed pharmaceutical activity in animal models require subcutaneous injection and can generate adverse effects (loss of bone mass, an increase of heart rate and arterial pressure, etc.).
According to the new pre-clinical study, levels of FGF21 in the liver and plasma can increase through oral administration of the EPB-53 molecule. "This effect is possible because EPB-53 is a molecule that activates HRI (eIF2α kinase regulated by hemo group), a kinase that can boost a factor of transcription involved in the increase of FGF21, which reduces glucose tolerance and hepatic steatosis in mice which are fed with a fat-rich diet", notes the researcher Manuel Vázquez-Carrera, from the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutical Chemistry of the UB.
A growing problem on global health
The conclusions of the study prove the use of FGF21 inducer compounds could lead to new therapeutic strategies to treat type 2 diabetes and the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, similarly to what analog compounds do subcutaneously.
Advertisements
The incidence of type 2 mellitus diabetes has grown among the population over the last years, and the available drugs cannot control the progress of the disease in all patients. Also, the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease affects one out of four people and the worst cases -non-alcoholic steatohepatitis- do not have any specific approved drug. Finding new drugs for oral administration is, thus, one of the challenges in biomedicine to improve health care for millions of people worldwide, who are affected by these metabolic diseases.
Advertisements