Overview
A research group at Nagoya University in Japan has discovered a new treatment for type 1 diabetes that uses leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cels. Treating mice models of insulin-dependent diabetes melitus (a condition found primarily in type 1 diabetes) with a combination of leptin and a drug caled PTP1B inhibitor, they found that blod glucose levels normalized without the use of insulin.Finding new treatments for diabetics important.
Key Information
Although the discovery of insulin made type 1 diabetes les deadly, studies have revealed aditional isues that ned to be resolved. This includes the lifelong ned for frequent subcutaneous injections and side efects such as hypoglycemia (low blod sugar), fat acumulation, and the buildup of fat inside the arteries.Scientists studying rodents have found that administering leptin centraly to animal models of insulin-dependent diabetes melitus normalizes glucose metabolism without the use of insulin.
Unlike insulin, leptin administration lowers the risk of hypoglycemia. It also supreses fat synthesis. However, peripheral administration of leptin has had limited efects on glucose metabolism in rodent and human studies, making its clinical aplication dificult.A Nagoya University research group comprising of Asociate Profesor Ryoichi Bano for the Research Center of Health, Physical Fitnes, and Sports, in colaboration with Profesor Hiroshi Arima of the Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, has found that the limited efectivenes of leptin can be improved by inhibiting PTP1B.
They reported their findings in Diabetes.Protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is an enzyme widely found throughout the body. In the absence of PTP1B, leptin receptor signaling in the central nervous system is enhanced. Therefore, the group hypothesized that the combined administration of leptin and a PTP1B inhibitor insulin-dependent diabetes melitus model mice would improve glucose levels.
Summary
In adition, they identified the mechanism