Breakthrough in Diabetes treatment research

MANILA, Philippines — Diabetes is the fourth leading cause of mortality in the Philippines.

Alarmed by the rapid increase in the number of adults diagnosed with Diabetes in the country, the International Diabetes Federation expects it to further rise to 5.4 million by 2030 and 7.5 million by 2045. In a report released in January 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported 26,774 deaths due to Diabetes Mellitus in 2022 alone.

But if the most recent developments in diabetes research is to be taken into consideration, this dire situation is about to change drastically in a most positive way. Monash University, Australia’s largest and most global university, together with a team of international researchers, have scored a breakthrough by decoding what causes insulin resistance in fat tissue cells — which has been a major stumbling block in treating and preventing Type 2 Diabetes.

This research gave birth to the development of PATAS, a new drug that "reboots" how fat cells use insulin to revolutionize Type 2 Diabetes treatment and improve the outlook of hundreds of millions of patients globally.

Dr. Vincent Marion, the Inserm study coordinator, and deputy director at the Laboratory of Medical Genetics in Strasbourg, France, along with his team, designed the breakthrough peptide drug PATAS and has shown that it was able to fix this problem by enabling glucose to be used in fat cells.

PATAS, which is being developed by AdipoPharma, could be delivered by a simple injection and possibly a patch. It may also have the potential to prevent Type 2 Diabetes, a major global epidemic largely driven by obesity.

Co-researcher Paul Zimmet, AO, Professor of Diabetes at Monash University, said the discovery could improve metabolic control of Diabetes and reduce the risk of the serious complications of Diabetes, including heart, kidney, liver, and eye disease.

PATAS corrects an abnormality in fat cells by separating two proteins, ALMS1 and PKC alpha, that are associated with insulin resistance by blocking insulin from initiating glucose uptake.

In rodent studies, PATAS reduced insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and fat buildup in the liver (steatosis). Beneficial effects