Identification of natural products as antidiabetic agents using computer-aided drug design methods

Identifier:  TDX:1186

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX1186

Authors:  Guasch Pàmies, Laura

Abstract:
Natural products derived from medicinal plants are an abundant source of biologically active compounds, many of which have formed the basis for development of nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals compounds. Computer-aided drug design methods such as virtual screening workflows play an essential role in the identification of undescribed bioactivities of natural products by minimizing the synthetic and biological testing efforts. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is considered to be the “epidemic of the 21st century” and, consequently, is one of the main challenges in drug discovery today. There is a significant unmet medical need for better drugs to treat T2DM because some therapies suffer undesirable side effects. Therefore, this PhD thesis is focus on the identification of new natural compounds as antidiabetic agents. In that sense, PPARgamma and DPP-IV have shown to be appropriate targets for antidiabetic drugs, targeting them appears to have good prospects for a successful therapeutic approach in the T2DM.