Nova geração de fármacos utilizados na terapêutica antidiabética com base na utilização farmacológica da albumina

Abstract

Ever since insulin was discovered by Banting and Best in 1921, all further researches in this field have been conducted with one goal: to find new insulin molecules which provide better glycemic control with fewer side effects. Albumin is one of the most extensively studied endogenous proteins which are used in the fabrication of drug delivery and diagnostic technologies during the last ten years. Also, over the past decades, albumin has emerged as a versatile carrier for therapeutic and diagnostic agents, primarily for diagnosing and treating diabetes, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and infectious diseases. An increasing number of albumin-based or albumin-binding drugs are in clinical trials. The binding property of albumin can be exploited to develop a method of attaining a longer half-life for small proteins and peptides thus being used as protein carrier to improve the pharmacokinetic profile of the drug or to target the drug to the pathogenic site addressing diseases with unmet medical needs. Coupling drugs to albumin, conjugation with proteins and encapsulation of drugs into albumin nanoparticles are three strategies in development and with great relevance in antidiabetic therapeutics