About 60 volunteers will be recruited initially and if the results are positive a much larger trial would follow, paving the way for the product to be licensed and marketed.

The discovery that N-acetylcysteine, which is already used in hospitals to reverse the effects of paracetamol overdoses, can reduce the "stickiness" of blood has been made by 21-year-old UHI Millennium Institute student Kyle Gibson as part of a joint project with NHS Highland.

Blood thickening is a common complication of diabetes, increasing the risk of blood clots and ultimately heart attacks and strokes. Patients with the condition are often advised to take aspirin, but some may be resilient to its effects while others go on to develop side effects such as stomach ulcers.

"We are very hopeful. We would not have pursued it to this extent if we weren't," said Professor Ian Megson, UHI Lifescan chair of diabetes.

"We have an application in to the chief scientist's office in Edinburgh to try and get funding for the clinical aspect of the project. We are hoping they will fund it and if they do we will start testing in June and will be looking for around 60 patients.

"The exciting aspect of all this is that it is taking place in the Highlands. The fact that UHI and NHS is involved in collating these results is an important aspect in its own right."

Patients will be asked to take the drug for a week, with tests on their blood being run before and afterwards.

If successful, the drug will then have to be trialed at a number of other levels before being licensed and developed for use on the market — a process that would cost millions of pounds and take three to five years As a scientist, Professor Megson was cautious about raising patients' expectations but was optimistic the therapy could be of real benefit to diabetics.

The fact the drug is not new and is already used safely in hospitals should help reduce the time it takes to secure a licence.

Glasgow-based Scottish Health Innovations has agreed to fund a patent application and further testing and is working closely with UHI and NHS Highland on the project.

Sandra MacRury, consultant diabetologist and endocrinologist at Raigmore and clinical professor of diabetes at UHI, believes the drug could play a valuable role in the treatment of diabetics. Across the Highlands alone, more than 11,000 patients could benefit.

"This research is a very exciting development," she said. "What is important is that it gives us more options."

Research is being carried out at the department of diabetes, located at a temporary laboratory at The Green House on Beechwood Business Park. In October the department will move into the new £23 million Centre for Health Science beside Raigmore Hospital.

The development is a major feather in the cap for Inverness and the first significant spin-off from the partnership between UHI, NHS Highland and LifeScan Scotland.

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