One Injection May Restore Stable Blood Sugar Levels in People with Diabetes
A single injection of FGF1 (a protein) can restore blood sugar levels to a stable range for more than 2 days, according to a recent study.
Since other drugs used to regulate blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes can cause desensitizing to insulin that results in a drop of blood sugar, researchers believe this new discovery could lead to more effective and safer diabetes medication.
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In order to assess FGF1’s impact on metabolism, researchers injected doses of the protein into obese mice with diabetes. They found that after 1 dose, the blood sugar levels decreased to stable levels in all of the diabetic mice.
The investigators noted that they did not observe hypoglycemia or other common side effects with the FGF1 injections. They suggested that FGF1 may lead to more normal responses compared to other diabetes drugs because the protein metabolizes quicker and targets certain cells.
“We want to move this to people by developing a new generation of FGF1 variants that solely affect glucose and not cell growth,” said Ronald M. Evans, PhD, corresponding author of the study and director of Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory.
“If we can find the perfect variation, I think we will have on our hands a very new, very effective tool for glucose control,” he said.
The complete study is published in the July issue of Nature.
-Michelle Canales
References:
Suh JM, Jonker JW, Ahmadian M et al. Endocrinization of FGF! Produces a meomorphic and potent insulin sensitizer. Nature. 2014 July [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1038/nature13540.
Salk Institute. One injection stops diabetes in its tracks. July 16, 2014. www.salk.edu/news/pressrelease_details.php?press_id=2037. Accessed July 18, 2014.