A new type of medication that stimulates the body’s muscles to absorb excess sugar in the blood could revolutionize the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The experimental drug, coded ATR-258, is the first medication that works by transferring sugar directly from the blood to the muscles. Developed in Sweden, it has successfully passed animal studies and is now being tested on patients.
In type 1 diabetes, which is typically diagnosed in childhood, the body produces no insulin because the immune system attacks and destroys the pancreatic cells that produce it. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin daily. In type 2 diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin or does not use insulin effectively—treatments range from lifestyle changes to medications that help the body manage high blood sugar levels. Most medications enhance the insulin system.
However, ATR-258, developed by Atrogi, a company founded by Tori Bengtsson, a professor of physiology at Stockholm University, represents a new class of drugs that bypass the insulin system. It acts on muscle receptors, stimulating muscles to take glucose from the blood for energy use, thus reducing blood sugar levels independently of the pancreas and insulin.
Studies conducted on mice have shown that ATR-258 lowers blood glucose levels to healthy ranges and enhances insulin sensitivity, thereby reducing the amount needed. Approximately 80 individuals are participating in the trial at CRS Clinical Research Services in Mannheim, Germany.
Professor Bengtsson states, “Current type 2 diabetes treatments aim to excessively stimulate an already dysfunctional insulin system, which rarely works well. Over time, this means diminished effectiveness and a risk of serious illnesses.” The ingenuity of ATR-258 lies in its ability to penetrate the very mechanism that allows sugar to enter cells for use as an energy source, a process that is entirely dependent on insulin.
