therapeuticEstablished
Anticoagulation and antiviral therapy
Heparin-class anticoagulants and neuraminidase inhibitors are established carbohydrate-based therapeutics in routine clinical use.1
Glycome Atlas
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Glycome Atlas
concept
Also known as glycan drugs, sugar-based drugs, carbohydrate therapeutics
IdoA (α1-4) → GlcN (repeating unit)
How to read these diagrams (SNFG)
Each shape is a class of sugar and each colour a specific one. Structures read right to left, with the reducing end (the point of attachment) on the right.
Plain-language answer
Carbohydrate-based drugs are medicines that either are sugars themselves or work by acting on sugar-processing enzymes. Familiar examples include the blood thinner heparin and antiviral drugs that block a viral sugar-cutting enzyme.1
Several widely used medicines come from glycoscience, showing that sugars are not only structural but also druggable. Understanding glycan biology continues to open new drug targets.1
Technical detail
Carbohydrate-based drugs include glycan therapeutics such as heparin and agents that inhibit carbohydrate-active enzymes such as viral neuraminidase or intestinal alpha-glucosidases, spanning anticoagulation, antiviral, and metabolic indications.1
Established examples include heparin and low-molecular-weight heparins as anticoagulants, neuraminidase inhibitors for influenza, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors used to blunt post-meal glucose rises.1
Ongoing glycoscience research targets selectins, Siglecs, and other glycan-recognition systems, expanding the pipeline of carbohydrate-directed therapeutics.1
Human relevance
Heparin-class anticoagulants and neuraminidase inhibitors are established carbohydrate-based therapeutics in routine clinical use.1
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References