Import substitution for endocrinologists
Siberian scientists create an alternative to imported diabetes diagnosis system
Scientists of the Siberian Federal University, the Institute of Biophysics SB RAS and the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine are developing a system for diagnosing diabetes mellitus by the content of hemoglobin in the blood, combined with glucose. The development will be able to replace imported systems. An article about the study was published in the journal Analytical Biochemistry (Davydova et al., Development and characterization of novel 2'-F-RNA aptamers specific to human total and glycated hemoglobins).
Currently, two methods of diagnosing diabetes are used in Russia: by the content of free glucose in the blood and by the content of hemoglobin combined with glucose, the so-called glycated hemoglobin. The first method is the most well-known and widespread, but the second is more objective and informative: it allows you to judge the patient's condition for 3-4 months.
There are no domestic developments to identify and monitor this indicator yet. Russian medical laboratories use imported systems that are closed complexes. Reagents and consumables for them are purchased from the manufacturer annually in accordance with the expiration dates. The creation of a domestic system will make the diagnosis of diabetes more accessible and reliable.
Glycated hemoglobin accumulates in the blood with excessive glucose content, it is also a key indicator in gestational diabetes of pregnant women. The analysis developed by Siberian scientists is based on the use of aptamers – special short fragments of ribonucleic acids.
Aptamers "recognize" free hemoglobin or its glycated form and selectively bind to it. To detect these emerging complexes, it is proposed to use special light–emitting proteins - luciferases. Their signal allows for analysis with high sensitivity.
"We are at the very beginning of development: the first model experiments were made, which showed the fundamental possibility of using the proposed analysis based on an aptamer as a specific element and a light–emitting protein as a sensitive reporter," said Lyudmila Frank, head of the Krasnoyarsk group, professor of the Basic Department of Biotechnology at SFU.
According to scientists, the study will continue, there are plans to increase the sensitivity of the analysis, test the method on the study of clinical samples and develop a format convenient for clinical use.
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