Posted by When I look back at the last few years, it’s hard not to feel moved by what this project has meant to me—not only as a researcher, but as a person who has grown alongside an idea that began in 2020 and slowly transformed into something real, tangible, and full of hope.
This story started thanks to a postdoctoral fellowship from Fundación Séneca. At the time, I had nothing more than a hypothesis, a handful of preliminary observations, the support of prof. Francesco Trotta (UNITO) and prof. José Manuel López Nicolás (UMU) and a deep fascination with the molecular versatility of cyclodextrins. That early support didn’t just fund a project; it opened the door for everything that followed. It gave me, with the help of my first Ph.D. student and now my friend Dr. Yousef. K Monfared, the chance to explore, to take risks, and eventually to protect the first core ideas through a patent filed in 2022.
Two years later, I had the privilege of presenting our findings at the European Cyclodextrin Conference in Budapest. It was the moment when I realized this work was no longer just my personal curiosity: it had matured into something worthy of the wider cyclodextrin community.
And finally, in 2025, we reached a milestone that every researcher dreams of—the publication of our study.
The Science That Kept Me Going
At the heart of this research lies a simple but powerful idea: cyclodextrins can do more than we traditionally ask of them.
We discovered a fascinating duality. On the one hand, certain cyclodextrins inherently inhibit the nucleation and growth of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals—the same crystals responsible for triggering gout flares. This means they can act directly at the physicochemical level, interfering with the earliest steps of crystal formation.
On the other hand, cyclodextrins also excel at what they are well known for: transporting drugs. In this case, they enhance the solubility and bioavailability of therapeutics used against hyperuricemia, boosting their effect while at the same time helping to mitigate side effects. That dual mechanism—intrinsic inhibition plus improved drug delivery—was more than we expected at the beginning, and it opened new therapeutic perspectives that still excite me today.
Seeing these two properties come together, complementing each other so naturally, felt like watching a puzzle click into place after years of effort.
This project accompanied me through transitions, uncertainties, and many nights of stubborn determination. It shaped my scientific identity and gave me some of the most meaningful moments of my career so far. Closing this chapter, and possibly opening new ones, doesn’t feel like an ending, but rather like taking a quiet pause to appreciate what the journey has given me.
References
- A. Matencio et al. Cyclodextrin-based treatment for gout and hyperuricemia. Patent WO2024133757A1 (2022).
- European Cyclodextrin Conference, Budapest (2023).
- A. Matencio et al. Commercial and non-commercial cyclodextrin derivatives as a novel therapy to improve gout’s disease and hyperuricemia. International Journal of Pharmaceutics (2025), S0378-5173(25)00985-8.
The authors used ChatGPT to improve the English level of the same.