A study published in the journal Pharmacological Research describes a potential target that could spur the design of new therapeutic strategies to specifically treat diabetic cardiomyopathy. The paper describes the beneficial effects — on the disease — of activating a protein — the nuclear receptor PPARβ/δ — present in all body cells and especially abundant in organs and tissues with more active metabolism (skeletal muscle, heart, liver or adipose tissue).

Manuel Vázquez-Carrera and Xavier Palomer, from the UB’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, the UB Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB) and the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute (IRSJD), lead the study as experts from the Centre for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER) on Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases (CIBERDEM).

Other researchers signing this paper are Fátima Crispi, from the UB’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, BCNatal (IRSJD and Hospital Clínic - IDIBAPS) and the Centre for Biomedical Research Network on Rare Diseases (CIBERER); Francisco Nistal, from the University of Cantabria and the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital and the Centre for Biomedical Research Network on Cardiovascular Diseases (CIBERCV), and Walter Wahli, from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), among other experts.

More