Researchers in Ohio have discovered a possible new cause for diabetes that could pave the way for new treatments for those suffering from it....CONTINUE READING
The disease is a condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high due to the body not producing enough insulin. Around 20 million people have ether type 1 or type 2 diabetes across the US and more than 4 million in the UK.
Scientists at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals in Cleveland have now identified an enzyme that blocks insulin produced in the body.
Their health study, published on December 5 in Cell, concentrated on nitric oxide, a compound that dilates blood vessels, improves memory, fights infection and stimulates the release of hormones as well as other functions.
The performance of nitric oxide in these activities has long left experts scratching their heads. However, a unique ‘carrier’ enzyme called SNO-CoA-assisted nitrosylase (SCAN) was discovered that attaches nitric oxide to proteins, including the receptor for insulin action.
These SCAN enzymes are essential for normal insulin action but increased SCAN activity was also found in diabetic patients and diabetic mice. Mouse models without the SCAN enzyme appeared to be shielded from diabetes, suggesting that too much nitric oxide on proteins may be a cause of such diseases.
Lead researcher Jonathan Stamler, the Robert S. and Sylvia K. Reitman Family Foundation Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Innovation at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and president of Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, suggested that the finding could lead to new treatments of diabetes.
He said: “We show that blocking this enzyme protects from diabetes, but the implications extend to many diseases likely caused by novel enzymes that add nitric oxide. Blocking this enzyme may offer a new treatment.
“This paper shows that dedicated enzymes mediate the many effects of nitric oxide. Here, we discover an enzyme that puts nitric oxide on the insulin receptor to control insulin.
“Too much enzyme activity causes diabetes. But a case is made for many enzymes putting nitric oxide on many proteins, and, thus, new treatments for many diseases.”
The news comes after an existing drug was found that appears to stop Type 1 diabetes from developing. A world first trial has shown a rheumatoid arthritis drug can preserve the body’s own insulin production and suppress the progression of type 1 diabetes in people newly diagnosed…CONTINUE READING>>
