Frog Skin May Be Potential Diabetes Treatment
Posted on: Tuesday, 4 March 2008, 00:30 CST
British researchers believe they may have found a potential treatment for type-2 diabetes from a chemical in the skin secretions of the South American “shrinking” frog.
The scientists found that in addition to protecting the frogs from infection, the chemical compound, called pseudin-2, also stimulated insulin release. The researchers said a synthetic version of the compound could be used to produce new drug treatments for the disease.
Type-2 diabetes develops when the body does not produce enough insulin, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly. The condition results in improperly regulated blood glucose levels. Often associated with obesity, type-2 diabetes affects over 2 million people in the UK alone, according to a BBC News report.
Scientists from the University of Ulster and United Arab Emirates University have been testing a synthetic version of pseudin-2, and found the compound stimulated the secretion of insulin in pancreatic cells in the laboratory without any toxic effects on the cells.
The team found that the synthetic version was better at stimulating insulin than the natural compound, paving the way for potential development of new drug treatments.
Dr. Yasser Abdel-Wahab, senior lecturer in biomedical sciences at the University of Ulster and the study’s leader, told BBC News there had been a lot of research into bioactive molecules from amphibian skin secretions.
For example, one recently developed diabetes drug, exenatide, was developed from a hormone in the saliva of a lizard found in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico called the Gila monster.
"We found that it stimulated the secretion of insulin and that the synthetic version is more potent that pseudin-2 itself.”
"More research is needed, but there is a growing body of work around natural anti-diabetic drug discovery that, as you can see, is already yielding fascinating results," he told BBC.
"Good diabetes control reduces the risk of complications including blindness, heart disease, kidney problems and amputation so new treatments are vital," Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, told BBC News. He added that although the disease could be managed with proper diet and exercise, it is a progressive condition that may require medication to effectively control.
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User Comments (1)
| 1. |
Posted by patricia on 05/04/2008, 10:32 i hope it comes out cause my mother has antibiotic diabites i just have a question. when will it come out? what year? |
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