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Nigel A. Calcutt

Nigel A. Calcutt is a researcher specializing in the study and treatment of peripheral nervous system disorders. His research primarily focuses on the mechanisms and therapeutics of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, including the use of muscarinic receptor antagonists to stimulate nerve repair and mitochondrial function. He has also co-authored studies evaluating diagnostic and physiological measures of neuropathy, such as rate-dependent depression of the Hoffmann reflex and nerve fiber density.

19 claims checked on air: 2 overstated 14 supported 3 unverified

What they said on air - overstated

1 citing their own research

0:26:45overstatedmoderateExciting Developments in the Treatment of Peripheral Neuropa

Ruth van Heyningen discovered in the 1950s that aldose reductase is expressed at high levels in organs where diabetic complications occur, including the eyes, nerves, blood vessels, and kidneys.

"The the the the primary observation was made by a lady named Ruth van Heyningen in the 1950s, who looked at the distribution of aldose reductase and noted that it it just happened to be present in all the organs of the body where you got diabetic complications. The eyes, the nerves, the blood vessels, the kidneys, these were all at levels with high expression of aldose reductase." (said at 0:26:45)

Biochemist Ruth van Heyningen discovered the presence of aldose reductase and the sorbitol (polyol) pathway in the ocular lens in 1959, linking polyol accumulation to the formation of sugar and diabetic cataracts. However, she did not map its distribution across the full spectrum of organs affected by diabetic complications in the 1950s. The identification of aldose reductase activity in other non-insulin-dependent tissues susceptible to diabetic complications—such as peripheral nerves, blood vessels, and the kidneys—and the broader formulation of the polyol hypothesis for systemic diabetic microvascular complications occurred in subsequent decades through work by researchers such as Kenneth Gabbay and Jin Kinoshita.

0:56:02overstatedmoderatetheir own paperExciting Developments in the Treatment of Peripheral Neuropa

WinSanTor has completed two Phase 2 clinical trials showing that topical pirenzepine stimulates nerve regrowth and improves patient-reported outcomes in neuropathy.

"And WinSanTor, with help from Canadian government and the US government, has concluded two phase two clinical trials. Now, both of which have shown success in in showing nerve regrowth and other patient descriptors of effect." (said at 0:56:02)

The speaker claims that two Phase 2 clinical trials have concluded, both demonstrating nerve regrowth and patient-reported improvements. To date, published clinical trial data exist for only one Phase 2a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating topical 4% pirenzepine in 58 participants with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (PMID 41352124). While this trial demonstrated a statistically significant increase in lower-limb intraepidermal nerve fibre density (IENFD) over 24 weeks compared to placebo, the patient-reported outcome (Norfolk QOL-DN score) showed no significant difference in the primary modified intent-to-treat (mITT) analysis set. Improvement in QOL was observed only in a per-protocol secondary analysis, which the study authors noted requires cautious interpretation due to potential bias. Claiming that two Phase 2 trials have completed and successfully demonstrated both nerve regrowth and patient-reported benefits overstates the published evidence.

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