New drug target for diabetes discovered

Washington: In a breakthrough, Indian-origin scientists have identified a potential new therapeutic target for controlling high blood sugar - a finding that could help millions suffering from type 2 diabetes worldwide.

Researchers showed that lipid molecules called phosphatidic acids enhance glucose production in the liver.     These findings suggest that inhibiting or reducing production of phosphatidic acids may do the opposite.

"This study establishes a role for phosphatidic acids in enhancing glucose production by the liver and identifies enzymes involved in the synthesis of phosphatidic acids as potential drug targets," said senior author of the study, Dr Anil Agarwal, from the University of Texas.

These observations were made while studying a mouse model of lipodystrophy, a rare metabolic disease in which the body is devoid of fat.

Lipodystrophy patients often develop diabetes and accumulate fat in the liver because of an imbalance in the body's ability to properly regulate lipids and glucose. The causal gene, AGPAT2, which is involved in the synthesis of phosphatidic acid and triglycerides, was removed in the mice, resulting in rodents with generalised lipodystrophy.

The research team then examined what impact this genetic manipulation had on phosphatidic acids and glucose production.

"We expected the levels of phosphatidic acids to go down. However, in examining the livers of these lipodystrophic mice, we unexpectedly found high levels of this lipid class," said Agarwal.

This led to the identification of new targets involved in the production of phosphatidic acids. The buildup of these lipid molecules was due to an increase in the levels of two enzymes in the liver, diacylglycerol kinase and phospholipase D. Researchers also discovered a marked increase in glucose production in the livers of the lipodystrophic mice.

The lack of normal insulin signaling in these lipodystrophic mice led to unrestricted production of phosphatidic acid, Agarwal said, contributing to development of hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar.

Besides revealing a new potential therapy to test for treatment of diabetes, the study's findings may have implications in understanding how cancer develops.

Increased phosphatidic acid levels may play an important role in a metabolic pathway that supplies energy to cancer cells.

Lead author Dr Shireesha Sankella plans to test the inhibitors of diaclyglycerol kinase and phospholipase D in cultured cells and in animals to understand the molecular mechanisms for increased glucose production by phosphatidic acids in liver and cancer cells.

The study was published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Wockhardt Launches New Insulin Glaritus in India

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology major Wockhardt has announced the launch of its new insulin (Glaritus), a recombinant long acting human insulin analogue. Wockhardt is only the 1st company in the world after the innovator to launch this new insulin (Glaritus) that works slowly for over 24 hours. Currently, the worldwide market for this insulin (Glargine) is $2 billion. As per ORG IMS, the current market for analogues in India is Rs. 120 crores growing at 37% per annum. This new insulin (Glaritus) has been successfully clinically tested on 300 diabetic patients for safety & efficacy parameters and is approved by the Drug Controller General of India.

“Back in 2003, when I promised that we would launch Glaritus, the world’s most advanced insulin, there was disbelief all around. Today, the world will look at India in admiration. The nation’s biotechnology prowess would once again be a global talking point,” said Wockhardt Chairman Habil Khorakiwala. “Wockhardt becomes the first company in the biotechnology space to move from simple biologicals to complex biologicals with vast experience in both, E.coli and Yeast platforms,” he further added.

The launch of Glaritus is a significant landmark for India, which has one of the highest diabetes affected populations in the world. The advantage of Glaritus is that it is a once daily dose and provides basal glucose control over 24 hours. Glaritus can hence be easily combined with other oral medications of diabetes for effective blood glucose control. Moreover, Glaritus is meal independent, peakless insulin, which reduces incidences of hypoglycemia significantly. All this translates into more compliance to insulin therapy, improved blood glucose control and therefore slower progression of diabetes related complications.

Glaritus is available to the patients as reusable and disposable pen delivery devices. Wockhardt is one of the few select companies in the world to patent the technology of pen based insulin delivery devices, which is one of the most preferred modes of insulin injection across the globe today. Wockhardt insulin pen devices are ISO 11608 approved and have won the IndiaStar, AsiaStar and the WorldStar awards for excellence in packaging technology for 2008. Glaritus is manufactured at Wockhardt’s state-of-the-art biotech park in Aurangabad.

Wockhardt, over the recent years has built a comprehensive diabetes management portfolio that includes insulins, oral medications, blood glucose monitors & diabetes nutrition products.

Source: newsgaze.com

Wockhardt is a technology-driven global pharmaceutical and biotechnology major with an innovative multi-disciplinary research and development programme. It has 5 research centres and 15 world-class manufacturing plants dotting various countries and continents that are compliant to international regulatory standards such as the US FDA, MHRA or other global regulatory bodies. It has end-to-end integrated capabilities for its products, starting with manufacture of the oral and sterile API’s, the dosage forms and marketing through its wholly owned subsidiary in the US. Wockhardt has a global footprint including the USA, UK, Ireland, France, and Germany with a multi-ethnic workforce from 14 different nationalities.

Want to get healthy? Exercise 7 minutes a week

LONDON (Reuters) - Rigorous workouts lasting as little as three minutes may help prevent diabetes by helping control blood sugar, British researchers said on Wednesday.

The findings published in the journal BioMed Central Endocrine Disorders suggest that people unable to meet government guidelines calling for moderate to vigorous exercise several hours per week can still benefit from exercise.

"This is such a brief amount of exercise you can do it without breaking a sweat," said James Timmons, an exercise biologist at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, who led the study.

"You can make just as big as an effect doing this as you can by doing hours and hours of endurance training each week."

Type 2 diabetes, which affects an estimated 246 million adults worldwide and accounts for 6 percent of all global deaths, is a condition in which the body gradually loses the ability to use insulin properly to convert food to energy.

Very strict diet and vigorous, regular and sustained exercise can reverse type 2 diabetes, but this can be difficult for many people. The condition is closely linked to inactivity.

Timmons and his team showed that just seven minutes of exercise each week helped a group of 16 men in their early twenties control their insulin.

The volunteers, who were relatively out of shape but otherwise healthy, rode an exercise bike four times daily in 30 second spurts two days a week.

fter two weeks, the young men had a 23 percent improvement in how effectively their body used insulin to clear glucose, or blood sugar, from the blood stream, Timmons said.

The effect appears to last up to 10 days after the last round of exercise, he added in a telephone interview.

"The simple idea is if you are doing tense muscle contractions during sprints or exercise on a bike you really enhance insulin's ability to clear glucose out of the bloodstream," Timmons said.

The findings highlight a way for people who do not have time to work out a few hours each week as recommended to improve their health, he added.

His team did not look for other important benefits to health that come from exercise, such as lowered blood pressure or weight control, but said another study had shown similar benefits to heart function.

But Timmons said getting people to exercise even a little could translate into big savings for health systems that spend hundreds of million of dollars treating diabetes.

Source: Reuters