Hallucination drug can help treat type II diabetes
Already existing drugs inhibit the activity of a certain enzyme that contributes to hyperglycemia. The study is published in the journal Diabetes.Researchers who are studying new ways to control blood sugar levels in type II diabetes have found that an older class of antipsychotic drugs can be used to treat hyperglycemia. Researchers believe that some drugs can be repurposed to treat diabetes and modified to control blood sugar levels more accurately.
Several years ago, researchers at the University of Alberta discovered a potential new therapeutic target for the treatment of type II diabetes. Animal studies showed that elevated levels of the enzyme SCOT (csucinul CoA:3-ketoacid CoA transferase) were associated with hyperglycemia.
So instead of developing a completely new molecule to inhibit SCOT, the researchers used computer simulations. The goal is to find out if a drug already exists that affects the SCOT enzyme. According to John Asher, the lead author of the new study, this repurposing of drugs speeds up the clinical development process, which means they can be tested in humans and brought to market faster.
Previously, in 2020, scientists investigated the old antipsychotic drug pimozide, which inhibited SCOT activity in obese mice. The drug also successfully eliminated obesity-induced hyperglycemia in the animals.
Now researchers have demonstrated that several other drugs in the same class of antipsychotics work effectively as SCOT inhibitors. We are talking about diphenyl butylpiperidines, which were developed in the 1960s and are still in use today. In particular, they eliminate productive psychotic symptoms such as delirium and hallucinations.
Scientists tested three drugs, and it turns out they all interact with this enzyme and improve blood sugar control, preventing muscles from burning ketones as a fuel source. "By inhibiting SCOT, old antipsychotics will get a second life as an antidiabetic drug," the scientists are confident.
With drugs in the diphenylbutylpiperidine class already approved, the researchers hope to move quickly into human clinical trials.