publication date: Jul 22, 2011
|
author/source: University of Leicester
A cutting-edge
research project at the University of Leicester is aiming to improve the
treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Figures show that
cardiovascular diseases remain the number one killer in Western countries,
particularly heart attacks, and most recently a warning has been issued by the
World Health Organization (WHO) that Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of
diabetes, will increase by as much as 80% in some regions throughout the world
in the near future.
A PhD student with
the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Hussein Rubaiy, has uncovered new
information from his study, which has the potential to contribute to the design
of novel and more effective drugs for the treatment of diabetes and
cardiovascular diseases, e.g. high blood pressure and heart attack.
In his study, Rubaiy
analysed the mechanisms of a cardiac potassium channel and its component parts,
which play an important role in such vital processes as heart rhythm and tissue
protection. His work has thrown more light on how the channel works and how
information from drug interaction is converted into modified function.
Rubaiy commented: "This research
provides important foundations of understanding on which to build future
research and development of more targeted drug design. I am very optimistic
that my detailed findings will find application in the pharmaceutical industry
in the design or improvement of drugs for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and
cardiovascular diseases."
Dr Bob Norman, Senior
Lecturer at the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, added: "Modulation of the
properties of the channel has wider potential as a target for therapies to
protect tissues from damage resulting from low blood flow, as in heart attack
or cardiac surgery, and possibly as a treatment for high blood pressure.
Hussein Rubaiy's findings add significantly to our understanding of how these
channels work and hopefully should contribute in the future to the more
rational design of drugs to modify the properties of this important drug
target."
For further information information visit
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/sd/pgrd/fpgr.
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