July 11, 2007, 5:01 AM CT

Anti-malarial drug may reduce risk of diabetes

Preliminary research suggests that use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine may help reduce the risk of the development of diabetes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, as per a research studyin the July 11 issue of JAMA.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus affects nearly 8 percent of US adults, and its prevalence has been increasing.

Antimalarials such as hydroxychloroquine, a long-standing safe and inexpensive therapy for an autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, theoretically may improve glucose tolerance and prevent diabetes mellitus, as per background information in the article. In vitro and animal studies indicate that antimalarials improve insulin secretion and peripheral insulin sensitivity.

Mary Chester M. Wasko, M.D., M.Sc., of the University of Pittsburgh, Pa., and his colleagues examined the association between hydroxychloroquine treatment and risk of diabetes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The study included 4,905 adults with rheumatoid arthritis (1,808 had taken hydroxychloroquine and 3,097 had never taken hydroxychloroquine) with no initial diagnosis or therapy for diabetes, with 21.5 years of follow-up (Jan. 1983 through July 2004).

During the observation period, incident diagnoses of diabetes were reported by 54 patients who had taken hydroxychloroquine and by 171 patients who had never taken it. Analysis indicated that patients who had taken hydroxychloroquine had a 38 percent lower risk of developing diabetes, compared with those who had not taken hydroxychloroquine. This risk was further reduced with increased duration of hydroxychloroquine use. Patients who took hydroxychloroquine for more than four years had a 77 percent lower risk of diabetes compared with those who had never taken hydroxychloroquine......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

July 11, 2007, 4:49 AM CT

Boosting key milk to lower type 2 diabetes risk

Most Americans fail to get the calcium and vitamin D they need, but this shortfall could be affecting more than their bones. It may, at least in part, be one reason behind the epidemic of type 2 diabetes, suggests new research conducted at Tufts University. Drinking more milk a leading source of calcium and vitamin D in the American diet could help decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes by nearly 15 percent, as per the new meta-analysis and review reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (1).

In the thorough analysis of previously published studies, the scientists found chronically low levels of vitamin D were associated with as high as 46 percent greater risk of type 2 diabetes. Yet boosting vitamin D alone would likely have little effect in healthy adults. Instead, the scientists suggested that a combination of vitamin D and calcium, like that found in milk, would have the greatest potential to help prevent diabetes, particularly among those at highest risk for the disease.

Examining the intake of milk and milk products specifically, the scientists found there was nearly a 15 percent lower risk for type 2 diabetes among individuals with the highest dairy intake (3-5 servings per day) in comparison to those getting less than 1 servings each day......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

July 8, 2007, 10:20 PM CT

Cholesterol drug hits diabetes with one-two punch

Patients with type 2 diabetes may soon be able to control their glucose and their cholesterol levels with a single drug, as per a research studyled by Vivian A. Fonseca, professor of medicine and pharmacology at Tulane University School of Medicine and chief of the Tulane University Health Sciences Center Diabetes Program.

Results from the clinical trial demonstrated that the compound colesevelam HCl, in combination with Sulfonylurea-based treatment in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes, achieved significantly reduced glucose levels versus those in the study taking a placebo. The study was recently presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 16th Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress.

People with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol face many challenges in keeping their glucose levels and cholesterol in check. This study demonstrated the potential to improve two important metabolic parameters with one drug, says Fonseca.

Patients who received colesevelam HCl were shown in the study to have significant reductions in blood sugar levels, and participants lipid profiles in the colesevelam HCl group also showed substantial improvement over placebo. An application for the commercial production and sale of the drug is currently being assessed by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

July 8, 2007, 10:12 PM CT

Pumpkin: A fairytale end to insulin injections?

Compounds found in pumpkin could potentially replace or at least drastically reduce the daily insulin injections that so a number of diabetics currently have to endure. Recent research reveals that pumpkin extract promotes regeneration of damaged pancreatic cells in diabetic rats, boosting levels of insulin-producing beta cells and insulin in the blood, reports Lisa Richards in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI.

A group, led by Tao Xia of the East China Normal University, observed that diabetic rats fed the extract had only 5% less plasma insulin and 8% fewer insulin-positive (beta) cells in comparison to normal healthy rats (Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 87(9) 1753-7 2007).

Xia says: pumpkin extract is potentially a very good product for pre-diabetic persons, as well as those who have already developed diabetes. He adds that eventhough insulin injections will probably always be necessary for these patients, pumpkin extract could drastically reduce the amount of insulin they need to take.

David Bender, sub-dean at the Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, says: this research is very exciting the main finding is that feeding pumpkin extract prevents the progressive destruction of pancreatic beta-cells but it is impossible to say whether pumpkin extract would promote regeneration in humans. He added: I think the exciting thing is that this may be a source of a medicine that could be taken by mouth......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

July 2, 2007, 9:52 PM CT

Kidney Disease May Predict Risk of Pre-Diabetes

A blood component called cystatin C, used to test for early-stage kidney impairment, also may be a very early marker for those at risk of developing a condition known as pre-diabetes, a study conducted by scientists at the University at Buffalo has shown.

Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when the amount of glucose in the bloodstream begins to rise and remain above normal, an indication that glucose is not being absorbed properly by cells.

An estimated 54 million people Americans have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, which, if not arrested, often develops into full-blown Type 2 diabetes, a serious chronic disease associated with heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and nerve damage.

UB scientists report in the July 2007 issue of Diabetes Care that high levels of cystatin C were linked to a three-fold risk of progression to pre-diabetes in their study population.

"It's important to identify people who are at risk of pre-diabetes very early, because you can prevent this condition from developing by making changes in diet and lifestyle," said Richard P. Donahue, Ph.D., first author on the study.

"If further studies support our finding, testing for cystatin C could become an important part of a standard physical examination. Preventive measures could be in place before glucose intolerance has a chance to develop and take its toll"......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

May 25, 2007, 3:36 PM CT

Adult stem cells engineered to make insulin

In a fundamental discovery that someday may help cure type 1 diabetes by allowing people to grow their own insulin-producing cells for a damaged or defective pancreas, medical scientists here have reported that they have engineered adult stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood to produce insulin.

The scientists announced their laboratory finding, which caps nearly four years of research, in the June 2007 issue of the medical journal Cell Proliferation, posted online this week. Their paper calls it "the first demonstration that human umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells can be engineered" to synthesize insulin.

"This discovery tells us that we have the potential to produce insulin from adult stem cells to help people with diabetes," said Dr. Randall J. Urban, senior author of the paper, professor and chair of internal medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and director of UTMBs Nelda C. and Lutcher H. J. Stark Diabetes Center.

Stressing that the reported discovery is extremely basic research, Urban cautioned: "It doesnt prove that were going to be able to do this in people its just the first step up the rung of the ladder".

The lead author of the paper, UTMB professor of internal medicine/endocrinology Larry Denner, said that by working with adult stem cells rather than embryonic stem cells, doctors practicing so-called regenerative medicine eventually might be able to extract stem cells from an individuals blood, then grow them in the laboratory to large numbers and tweak them so that they are directed to create a needed organ. In this way, he said, physicians might avoid the usual pitfall involved in transplanting cells or organs from other people organ rejection, which requires organ recipients to take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their lives......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

May 10, 2007, 5:33 AM CT

Insulin therapy treat early diabetic retinopathy

Scientists will present study results that indicate that subconjunctivally delivered insulin ameliorates degenerative and inflammatory responses in diabetic rat retinas at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2007 Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The presentation will take place on Thursday, May 10 from 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Hall B/C of the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center.

Regular human insulin in doses ranging from 0.01U to 1U was injected subconjunctivally in control and 1 month diabetic male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. The biological effects of subconjunctival insulin on the retina were analyzed using immunoblotting, kinase assays and immunohistochemical analysis. Additionally, insulin-loaded hydrogels were designed for subconjunctival implantation to provide low levels of insulin to the retina for prolonged periods. The hydrogels were engineered to be thermoresponsive and hydrolytically degradable, and their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties were studied in vitro and in vivo using R28 cells in culture and SD rats respectively.

Lead researcher Ravi S.J. Singh, MD, of the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine in Hershey, Penn., reports that low dose periocular delivery of insulin to the retina of diabetic rats does not alter blood glucose levels and may treat early diabetic retinopathy......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

April 25, 2007, 9:38 PM CT

Strides Against Diabetic Retinopathy

Research increasingly shows promise to both slow and relieve the effects diabetic retinopathy, the most common complication of diabetes.

In its earliest stages, retinopathy often has no overt symptoms but can progress over time to a phase in which the blood vessels of the eye leak and rupture easily, eventually causing blindness. This frightening complication is caused by high blood glucose levels, and nearly all people with type 1 diabetes show some symptoms of the disorder.

An in-depth article in the spring 2007 edition of Countdown, the quarterly journal of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, details ongoing human clinical trials in this area, and important findings that have been made to date. In the article, JDRF-funded researchers share valuable insights into the causes of retinopathy, as well as the therapeutics that are being developed as a result of the identification of new biological targets.

One study mentioned within the article was led by Dr. Lloyd Aiello of the Joslin Diabetes Center, who showed that the compound ruboxistaurin slowed the progress of retinopathy by inhibiting an enzyme in the body called protein kinase C beta (PKC beta), which is believed to contribute to the blood vessel damage that leads to the disease. This is the first time a drug has been shown to protect against the complication in a human clinical trial......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

April 23, 2007, 11:05 PM CT

Depression may trigger diabetes in older adults

Chronic depression or depression that worsens over time may cause diabetes in elderly adults, as per new Northwestern University research.

This is the first national study to suggest that depression alone -- and not lifestyle factors like being overweight can trigger Type 2 diabetes in adults 65 and older, a population with a high prevalence of diabetes and depression. The report will be published April 23 in Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study examined 4,681 men and women 65 and older from Forsyth County, N.C.; Sacramento County, Calif.; Washington County, Md.; and Pittsburgh, Pa., annually for 10 years.

"This means doctors need to take depressive symptoms in elderly adults very seriously because of the effect it has on the likelihood of developing diabetes," said Mercedes Carnethon, lead author of the study and assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwesterns Feinberg School of Medicine.

An estimated 2 million elderly adults suffer from clinical depression, the second highest occurence rate of any age group. People 65 and older also have the highest prevalence of Type 2 diabetes.

"Diabetes is a scourge," said Carnethon. "It causes heart disease, blindness, kidney disease, leg amputations and lowered cognitive function because it essentially degrades the small and large blood vessels."........ Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

April 17, 2007, 5:03 AM CT

Ethnic Groups' Genes May Not Be Causing Diabetes

A study by U.S. and Australian scientists is helping dispel the 40-year-old "thrifty genotype theory," which purports that certain minority groups are genetically prone to diabetes.

The study, co-authored by UC Irvine anthropologist Michael Montoya, along with an epidemiologist and population geneticist, analyzed existing genetic studies published across a variety of disciplines. The team found no evidence to support the widely held thrifty genotype theory, which suggests that cycles of feast and famine early in human history created a gene that helps the body use scarce nutrients - a gene that leads to obesity and diabetes in comfortable, sedentary modern lifestyles.

"Our study challenges the presumption that Native American, Mexican American, African American, Australian Aborigine, or other indigenous groups are genetically prone to diabetes because the evidence demonstrates that higher rates of diabetes across population groups can be explained by non-genetic factors alone," said Montoya. The study helps explain why more than 250 genes have been studied as possible causes of type-2 diabetes, but together these genes explain less than 1 percent of diabetes prevalence worldwide.

The findings appear in the spring issue of the journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source