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Liver hormone offers hope for diabetes treatmentCompound boosts insulin production in mice.
Nature News ^ | 25 April 2013 | Chris Palmer

Posted on 04/28/2013 10:01:53 PM PDT by neverdem

Biologists have found a hormone in the liver that spurs the growth of insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas, a discovery they hope will lead to new treatments for diabetes.

A team led by Douglas Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, identified the hormone, betatrophin, by inducing insulin resistance in mice using a peptide that binds to insulin receptors. That caused the animals' insulin-secreting pancreatic β cells to proliferate. The researchers then searched for genes that showed increased activity, zeroing in on one that they were able to link to betatrophin production.

Further experiments showed that 8-week-old mice injected with betatrophin showed showed an average 17-fold rise in the replication of their insulin-secreting pancreatic β cells, the researchers report in Cell1. Betatrophin is also found in the human liver, the team says.

“It’s rare that one discovers a new hormone, and this one is interesting because it’s so specific,” says Melton. “It works only on β cells and it’s so robust and so potent.”

Pancreatic β cells replicate rapidly during embryonic and neonatal stages in both mice and humans, but their growth falls off dramatically in adults. A decrease in the function of the cells late in life is the main cause of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic disorder that affects more than 300 million people worldwide. In the United States alone, the two forms of diabetes — type 2 and and type 1, which is caused by an autoimmune attack on pancreatic β cells — account for US$176 billion in direct medical costs each year...

(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: betatrophin; diabetes; insulin

1 posted on 04/28/2013 10:01:53 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: austinmark; FreedomCalls; IslandJeff; JRochelle; MarMema; Txsleuth; Newtoidaho; texas booster; ...
miRNA: The Key to Losing Those Love Handles?

FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.

2 posted on 04/28/2013 10:43:02 PM PDT by neverdem (Register pressure cookers! /s)
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To: neverdem
In the United States alone, the two forms of diabetes — type 2 and and type 1, which is caused by an autoimmune attack on pancreatic β cells — account for US$176 billion in direct medical costs each year.Perhaps it is too profitable to fix?
3 posted on 04/29/2013 6:10:57 AM PDT by upchuck (To the faceless, jack-booted government bureaucrat who just scanned this post: SCREW YOU!)
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To: upchuck

That is absolutely the case. The pharmaceutical industry makes billions from medication, and also contribute staggering sums to the American Diabetes Association, which is absolutely useless.


4 posted on 04/29/2013 10:42:03 AM PDT by macrahanish #1
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To: upchuck

US $176 billion just for diabetes. That is a lotttt of money!


5 posted on 04/29/2013 11:34:55 AM PDT by tob2
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To: upchuck; macrahanish #1
Perhaps it is too profitable to fix?

That sounds like the greenies talking about carbon based fuels. It's wishful thinking disguised as conspiracy theory.

6 posted on 04/30/2013 3:03:56 PM PDT by neverdem (Register pressure cookers! /s)
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To: upchuck; macrahanish #1
Perhaps it is too profitable to fix?

That sounds like the greenies talking about carbon based fuels. It's wishful thinking disguised as conspiracy theory.

7 posted on 04/30/2013 3:03:57 PM PDT by neverdem (Register pressure cookers! /s)
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To: neverdem

Sounds encouraging. However whenever you stimulate cell growth beware the risk of overstimulating it into cancer. Research it properly.


8 posted on 04/30/2013 5:38:56 PM PDT by JohnBovenmyer (Obama been Liberal. Hope Change!)
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