Dundee Team Wins Research Accolade

A research paper describing how a commonly used Type 2 diabetes drug may be re-purposed to treat non-diabetic conditions, was described as one of the most outstanding research papers of 2016.

An international study led by Professor Chim Lang and Dr Graham Rena at Dundee’s division of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, along with collaborators in Paris and Helsinki, suggests there is now strong evidence that Metformin exhibits an anti-inflammatory action which may prove significant in non-diabetic cardiovascular disease. Inflammation is understood to contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD) but existing nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have shown limited utility in CVD treatment.

Published in Circulation Research, the study received a Best Manuscripts Award, which was accepted by Dr Rena at a ceremony in New Orleans during November. The UK arm of the study was funded by the Medical Research Council, Diabetes UK and British Heart Foundation.

Prior to the presentation Dr Rena said: “I will be immensely proud to pick up this award on behalf of myself and my colleagues. This is fantastic international recognition for Dundee and the research that takes place within our School of Medicine.

“This was a real collaborative effort and the award is for every single member of the team who played their part. More importantly, this research may one day help to treat people around the world with a wide variety of non-diabetic conditions.”

Other recent studies undertaken at the University have shown that metformin may help treat Alzheimer’s disease and could potentially prevent cancer. The drug is also undergoing new clinical trials to determine if it can promote healthy aging.