Discovery of clumps as cause of diabetes could bring cure

LONDON — A cure for diabetes could be on the way after scientists discovered that toxic clumps of a hormone stop cells producing insulin.

Scientists at Manchester University have found that Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are driven by the same underlying mechanism — when the hormone amylin begins to clump together, surrounding cells and preventing them from producing insulin.

Insulin is essential for moving sugar from the bloodstream into muscles and fatty tissue to provide energy. Too little insulin allows dangerous levels of glucose to build up in the blood, causing damage to the heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves.

The new finding could pave the way for drugs that stop the amylin build-up in the first place or dissolve clumps that are present.

The Singapore Burden of Disease Study 2010 showed that approximately one in 10 (11.3 per cent) adult Singaporeans has diabetes.

The pancreas produces both insulin and amylin, which usually work together to regulate the body’s response to food.

However, some of the amylin that is produced can get deposited around cells in the pancreas as toxic clumps, which then, in turn, destroy those cells that produce insulin. The consequence of this cell death is diabetes.

Previous research suggested that this was the cause of Type 2 diabetes. But now scientists believe it could also explain Type 1, which occurs in childhood.

The team hopes to have potential medicine ready to go into clinical trials in the next two years and it is anticipated that the medicine will be tested in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic patients. Clinical trials are being planned with research groups in England and Scotland.

Meanwhile, diabetes charities have urged people to adopt healthier lifestyles to avoid Type 2 diabetes, rather than wait for a pill.

The study was published in the Journal Of The Federation Of American Societies For Experimental Biology. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH