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Diabetes mellitus

Advances in Diabetes Research: New Findings from Canada, US, and Germany

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Researchers in Canada, the United States, and Germany have made significant breakthroughs in understanding diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes. Recent studies have focused on the action of incretin hormones, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and their potential as therapeutic agents. The findings of these studies have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Key Takeaways:

  • The action of incretin hormones, exemplified by GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), stimulates glucose-dependent insulin secretion, promotes beta cell proliferation, and inhibits apoptosis, leading to expansion of beta cell mass.
  • GLP-1, but not GIP, controls glycemia via additional actions on glucose sensors, inhibition of gastric emptying, food intake, and glucagon secretion.
  • GLP-1 receptor agonists and DPP-4 inhibitors have potential therapeutic utility for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
  • Scientists have developed a GLP-1 plasmid for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, which enables GLP-1 production in the body, overcoming its short half-life.
  • The plasmid construction and delivery have shown promising results in vitro and in vivo, with increased insulin secretion and decreased blood glucose levels in diabetic mice.
  • Exenatide, an incretin mimetic, can restore a normal pattern of insulin secretion in subjects with type 2 diabetes, augmenting first- and second-phase insulin secretion in response to intravenous glucose.

Statistics:

  • GLP-1 is a 30-amino-acid hormone produced by intestinal L cells.
  • GLP-1 has a short half-life, which can be overcome by GLP1 gene delivery.
  • In vitro results showed expression of GLP-1 and its in vitro activity, a glucose-dependent insulinotropic action.
  • A single systemic administration of polyethyleneimine/pSIGLP1NF kappa B complex into DIO mice resulted in increasing insulin secretion and decreasing blood glucose levels for a duration longer than two weeks.
  • Exenatide-treated DM2 subjects had an insulin secretory pattern similar to healthy subjects in both first (0-10 min) and second (10-180 min) phases after glucose challenge.
  • The most common adverse event in exenatide-treated DM2 subjects was moderate nausea (two of 13 subjects).

Sources:

  • Drucker, D. J. (2006). The biology of incretin hormones. CELL METAB, 3(3), 153-165.
  • Choi, S., et al. (2005). Glucagon-like peptide-1 plasmid construction and delivery for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Mol Ther, 12(5), 885-891.
  • Fehse, F., et al. (2005). Exenatide augments first- and second-phase insulin secretion in response to intravenous glucose in subjects with type 2 diabetes. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 90(11), 5991-5997.

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