R & D

Research Areas

Cardiovascular & Metabolic Diseases:
Diabetic Complications

Diabetes is a condition that is prevalent in about 5-7 % of the adult population. Prolonged and high blood glucose is now recognized as a primary cause of diabetic complications. There has been considerable progress in the sphere of glycaemic control, nevertheless, the prevalence of the complications is still around 20% in patients who have had diabetes of 5 years or more. These pose a significant social and economic burden to patients and healthcare system. More than 60% of the cost of managing diabetes stems from the cost of hospitalization for the complications of diabetes. Among patients with diabetes, heart failure is known to have a worse prognosis even after adjusting for other cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and Ischemic Heart Disease, the 5 year mortality being close to 50%.

The maladaptive cardiac remodeling associated with diabetes with preserved ejection fraction remains an unmet need due to unsatisfactory diagnosis and also management because of lack of effective pharmacological targets to improve outcomes. The emphasis in the management and prevention of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is shifting to the control of consequences of diabetic hyperglycemia itself. Independent of underlying renal function, diabetes also has an adverse impact on outcomes in diastolic HF.

We are focusing this unmet need by working on mechanisms that retard the progression of and reverse diabetic heart failure by inhibiting the pathways involved in altering protein structure and function in diabetic state and the ensuing inflammatory cascade.