Insulin News and Research

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Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert glucose, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Insulin allows cells to use glucose for fuel and is secreted by beta cells in the islets of Langerhans. The release of insulin from the pancreas is stimulated by increased blood glucose, vagal nerve stimulation, and other factors. Insulin is obtained from various animals and available in a variety of preparations. Commercial insulin preparations differ in a number of ways, including differences in the animal species from which they are obtained; their purity, concentration, and solubility; and the time of onset and duration of their biologic action. An oral hypoglycemic agent is not a form of insulin therapy.

How obesity, diet and exercise influence our metabolism and interact with our genome

Research by kinesiology investigator Dustin Hittel, PhD, has proven that muscle in extremely obese individuals produces large amounts of a protein called myostatin, which normally inhibits muscle growth-suggesting that for Type 2 diabetics, and the very obese, the task of getting healthy may be more difficult than initially thought.

26 Feb 2009

New cause of critical illness hypeglycemia identified

The endocrinologic basis of pediatric critical illness hypergylcemia (CIH) differs depending on the disease processes.

25 Feb 2009

Liver tumors associated with metabolic syndrome differ from other tumors

Liver cancer in patients whose only risk factor is metabolic syndrome has distinct forms and structures compared to other liver tumors.

25 Feb 2009

Ethnic differences found for fatty liver disease and insulin resistance

A new study suggests that the metabolic response to obesity and insulin resistance, particularly as it pertains to the liver, differs among ethnic groups in the U.S. African-Americans are more resistant to the buildup of fat in the abdominal adipose tissue and liver, and to high triglyceride levels associated with insulin resistance.

25 Feb 2009

Comparison of popular diets

Many popular diets emphasize either carbohydrate, protein or fat as the best way to lose weight.

25 Feb 2009

Compounds that trigger beta cell replication identified

Researchers at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) have identified a set of compounds that can trigger the proliferation of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, using sophisticated high-throughput screening techniques.

25 Feb 2009

Anti-cancer gene discovered

Starting with the tiny fruit fly, and then moving into mouse and human patients, researchers at VIB connected to the Center for Human Genetics (K.U. Leuven) showed that the same gene suppresses cancer in all three.

25 Feb 2009

Study finds risks and benefits of intensive insulin therapy in neurosurgical patients

A study in the March 2009 issue of Anesthesiology found that, in neurosurgical patients receiving postoperative intensive care, intensive insulin therapy - compared to conventional insulin therapy - leads to conflicting results: It increases the risk of hypoglycemic episodes, but reduces the incidence of postoperative infections and the length of stay in the intensive care unit.

24 Feb 2009

Discovery of 'obesity gene' involved in weight gain response to high-fat diet

Scientists have determined that a specific gene plays a role in the weight-gain response to a high-fat diet.

24 Feb 2009

Plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 -- a potential link between heart failure and diabetes

Researchers at the University of Vermont Cardiovascular Research Institute, Colchester, Vermont have found that increased expression in the heart of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) is profibrotic.

24 Feb 2009

Mindset BioPharmaceuticals receives notice of allowance for European patent related to insulin sensitizers in dementia and memory loss

Mindset BioPharmaceuticals (USA) Inc ("MINDSET") a company privately held by MPM Capital and other shareholders announced today that it has received a Notice of Allowance in Europe related to patent applications describing the use of insulin sensitizer drugs for the prevention and treatment of memory loss.

24 Feb 2009

Scientists mine drugs database for new diabetes treatment

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council have harnessed a new drug discovery tool to identify a new player in the body's insulin secretion process.

22 Feb 2009

GlaxoSmithKline starts phase III trial of Syncria (albiglutide) type 2 diabetes medication

GlaxoSmithKline has announced initiation and dosing of the first patient of the Phase III clinical trial programme to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of the investigational GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide 1) agonist Syncria (albiglutide) in men and women with type 2 diabetes.

18 Feb 2009

Weight loss improves nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

In a recent study, Saint Louis University researchers found that weight loss of at least 9 percent helped patients reverse a type of liver disease known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a finding that will allow doctors to give patients specific weight-loss goals that are likely to improve their livers.

17 Feb 2009

Comprehensive systematic review of insulin analogues

Insulin analogues are modified human insulins developed to address the limitations of human insulins which do not always respond to increased blood glucose levels in the same way as insulin that is naturally secreted by the body.

17 Feb 2009

Leptin shows potential for type 1 diabetes

Terminally ill rodents with type 1 diabetes have been restored to full health with a single injection of a substance other than insulin by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists.

16 Feb 2009

Mouse model mimics hyperglycemia, aids in diabetes research

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have genetically engineered a laboratory mouse in which pancreatic beta cells can regenerate after being induced to die.

16 Feb 2009

Are insulin pens safe for blind people?

Ann Williams, a National Institute of Health-supported postdoctoral fellow at Case Western Reserve University, understands what it means to live with diabetes.

16 Feb 2009

Discovery of potential treatment for Rett syndrome

A molecule that promotes brain development could serve as a possible treatment for Rett syndrome, the most common form of autism in girls, according to researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

9 Feb 2009

Weight loss stops obstructive sleep apnea

For sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a new study shows that losing weight is perhaps the single most effective way to reduce OSA symptoms and associated disorders, according to a new study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine , one of the American Thoracic Society's three peer-reviewed journals.

8 Feb 2009