Indian researchers identify new drug targets for TB

The study, led by Professor Seyed E Hasnain of the Institute of Life Sciences, at the University of Hyderabad, has worked out the mechanism of iron uptake system of Mycobacterium which can open up new avenues of developing treatment drugs.

Iron acquisition and regulation in intracellular pathogens especially mycobacterium, is a central survival mechanism working at the interface of host-pathogen interactions. The researchers used various in-vitro and in-vivo methods to understand how the bacterium imports iron from the cell where it lives. They also studied how the TB bacillus survived in the low iron environment of the human host.

The export of unbound small molecular weight high-affinity iron binding molecules, siderophores, and the subsequent internalization of their iron bound form is the centre stage of TB bacilli survival within the host.

The team also identified that the two genes that were previously believed as importers, were indeed working, in coherence with another binding protein as an exporter-importer system. The study further showed that that siderophores are actively exported outside the mycobacterial cell and didn't passively diffuse as believed earlier.

These three actively interacting genes boost the iron uptake and provide a feedback for export of only the non-iron bound siderophores and exclusive import of the iron bound forms.

The researchers believe that their findings would increase global efforts to understand the survival strategies of the pathogen and would provide a crucial foothold to tame one of the most deadly pathogens.


Piramal commences study of new glucose lowering compound

Piramal Life Sciences Limited, part of the Piramal Group of companies, recently commenced a Phase I study of a new, orally active glucose-lowering compound, P1736, in The Netherlands.

P1736 is a non-PPAR compound and is being developed for the treatment of Type II diabetes. The compound is significantly different from the currently marketed drugs, as it does not have any adverse side effects on liver function, blood plasma volume expansion or those related to weight gain.

The drug is being tested in a trial that will enroll 72 normal healthy volunteers. The primary objective of the study is to determine the safety and tolerability of P 1736 prior to examining its efficacy in Type 2 diabetes patients.
Piramal Life Sciences had submitted the Clinical Trial Application (CTA) for P1736, to the Central Commission on medical research Involving Human Subjects (CCMO), the regulatory authority of The Netherlands, and the Independent Ethics Committee of the foundation Evaluation of Ethics in Biomedical Research (BEBO), Assen, The Netherlands. Both these bodies have approved the Company’s application to initiate the Phase I study of P1736.
Significantly, an oral presentation of the preclinical data pertaining to this compound, will be made at the forthcoming congress of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), to be convened in June this year at San Francisco, California, USA.