A New Concept in Antidiabetic Therapeutics: A Concerted Removal of Labile Iron and Intracellular Deposition of Zinc

Background: The inflammatory process is known to be an integral part of the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The “labile,” redox-active iron, serving as a catalyst in Fenton reaction, producing the deleterious reactive oxygen species, triggering and maintaining inflammation, is hypothesized to play a causative role in this process. Concenter Biopharma continued the development of a new platform of iron chelators (Zygosids), first initiated at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (HUJI), acting via the novel mechanism, based on a sequestration of the labile redox-active iron and its substitution by zinc or gallium. The mode of action of Zygosids is based on the higher affinity of the metal-binding moiety of the complex to Fe³⁺ in comparison to already bound ion, leading to rapid release of the ion of another metal and chelation of Fe³⁺. Concomitantly, zinc ion, released by the complex, is known for its antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory role. Methods: The therapeutic effect of zinc-desferrioxamine (Zygosid-50) and gallium-desferrioxamine, was tested on fat sand rat (Psammomys obesus) model of diet-induced T2DM and on Lepr^db transgenic diabetic mice. Results: Zygosids demonstrated an ability to noticeably reduce blood glucose and insulin levels and improve the lipid profile. Moreover, an ability to mitigate insulin resistance by >90% was shown on the sand rat model. In addition, a potent anti-inflammatory effect, expressed as a diminishment of the proinflammatory cytokines in tissue levels, was demonstrated. Conclusion: Zygosids demonstrated robust therapeutic efficacy in treatment of T2DM. Importantly, no adverse effects were detected, in all the experiments, indicating high safety profile.