Artery drug 'feasible' in humans after mice tests

Prof Mirela Delibegovic said research is in the early stages.

A drug previously found to block artery fat in mice is also feasible in humans, according to University of Aberdeen scientists.

The drug Trodusquemine was given to mice on a high fat diet in 2017 and was shown to "melt away" the fat inside arteries that can cause heart attacks and strokes.

Follow-up tests carried out this year on human white blood cells found the same success.

The university said 30 healthy volunteers and 30 with artery diseases took part - with trials in the very early stages.

In mice and humans, scientists said the drug was found to block an enzyme called PTP1B - which forms a plaque in artery walls when fat builds.

This helped reduce the levels of "bad cholesterol" during the tests, and allowed researchers to generate data to take the trial forward.

'Really promising'

Prof Mirela Delibegovic, from the University of Aberdeen, said the trial had a "great potential".

She added that it remained an experimental drug and did not currently have a direct clinical impact for patients.

The research has been published by the National Library of Medicine.

Prof Delibegovic said: "This looks like a really promising therapeutic avenue we can take forward in the future for human trials."

The research team said it hoped the data would allow scientists to apply for funding to take the drug to clinical trials in the future.