ISF-402 PROJECT: DIABETES TYPE 2
ISF-402 is an insulin sensitising agent discovered by Professor Paul Zimmet AO and Associate Professor Frank Ng. Paul Zimmet is a world authority on diabetes and Director of the International Diabetes Institute. Frank Ng is an endocrine bio-chemist at Monash.
ISF-402 has been identified in human biological fluids. It can be synthesised to produce a compound that enhances insulin action. In type 2 diabetes, insulin action is impaired because the body cells are resistant to the effect of insulin.
The ISF-402 peptide drug for type 2 diabetes has moved a step closer to being trialled in humans with animal research data showing that the drug significantly lowers blood glucose levels.
Research at Monash University has shown that when the ISF-402 compound was injected into obese Zucker rats the therapy lowered blood glucose levels as well as increasing the body’s sensitivity to insulin allowing the hormone to ensure the blood glucose levels remain normal.
Studies have also shown that the drug promotes conversion of blood sugar to glycogen – the form in which sugar is stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is the way sugar is stored as energy for the body.
The studies carried out by Monash University indicates that the ISF-402 compound is non-toxic, that is, that it does not cause tissue damage.
In summary, ISF-402 peptide is non-toxic and works in two ways to lower blood glucose:
- by making the body more sensitive to insulin by activating glycogen synthase, the enzyme that coverts blood sugar to glycogen, and
- by delaying the breakdown of insulin itself thereby prolonging its blood sugar lowering effects.
IMO14 PROJECT: TRADITIONAL MEDICINE DIABETES AND OBESITY PROJECT
Dia-B is carrying on research on the IMO14 Project in conjunction with Intramed and Deakin University. The IMO14 Project is focused on a natural insulin sensitising agent that the researchers believe has the potential to be developed as a new therapy for obesity and type 2 diabetes. The project is based on a traditional native medicine remedy which has been shown to be effective against type 2 diabetes.
Initial research has tested the antidiabetic properties of IMO14 in both in-vitro and in-vivo models. Treatment of diabetic animals with IMO14 resulted in a clear antidiabetic effect from the aqueous bark extract which is the subject of the traditional native remedy. Blood glucose concentrations were significantly reduced in both diabetic and non-diabetic animals treated with the bark extract. These results were confirmed using IMO14 in cells in culture, showing a strong dose-dependent effect of the aqueous bark extract on glucose uptake by cells. Preliminary data suggests that IMO14 contains an insulin-sensitising agent that has the potential to be developed into a new therapy for type 2 diabetes.
Research to be carried out will focus on identifying one or more specific chemical compounds in IMO14 that have therapeutic potential for type 2 diabetes and obesity.
CDAI PROTEIN PROJECT
Dia-B and Baker Medical Research Institute (“Baker”), under a research team led by Professor Mark Cooper, are investigating a newly identified protein, CDA1, which is considered as being involved in important cellular functions including cellular proliferation, apoptosis and regulation of extracellular matrix protein. The CDA1 protein promotes the accumulation of collagens within various tissues that are susceptible to the development of diabetic complications. The CDA1 protein has been identified at sites of injury in diabetes and is shown to increase over time in organs that are susceptible to diabetes associated damage. Researchers at the Baker have found increased expression of CDA1 in the kidney and vascular system, in association with fibrosis and atherosclerosis, in various animal models.
The CDA1 protein appears to cause the development of diabetes complications and future research will focus on development of methods to suppress the expression of the protein and its accumulation. Given the manner in which the CDA1 protein appears to operate, the opportunity would appear to exist for the development of an new chemical entity (“NCE”) to suppress the CDA1 protein.
Researchers at Baker have expressed the view that there is the possibility of the development of a treatment for a number of human diseases which are affected or complicated by the expression or accumulation of the CDA1 protein including diabetic complications, renal failure, tissue and organ fibrosis, atherosclerosis and also in relation to wound healing.
