TheWorldHealthOrganizationestimatesthatmorethanone-thirdofabillionpeopleworldwidehavediabetes.NowscientistsinCaliforniahavedevelopedanewapproachtotreatingdiabeteswhichmightbeabletoreversethediseaseandnotjusttreatthesymptoms.Themostcommonformofthedisease,type2diabetes,isontherise.It'susuallytheresultofexcessweightandlackofphysicalexercise.Thepancreasdoesn'tproduceenoughinsulin,whichregulatessugarintheblood.Theexcesssugarcanaffecttheheartandbloodvessels,eyes,andotherorgans.Treatmentincludeslosingweightandexercising.Somepatientstakeinsulinorothermedicines.AttheCaliforniabiotechnologycompanyGenentech,researchershavebeeninvestigatingagrowthfactorproteincalledFGF21,whichisinvolvedincontrollingbloodsugar.JunichiroSonodasayspreviousstudieshaveshownthatwhenFGF21isinjectedintolaboratorymiceandmonkeys,ithasavarietyofbeneficialeffects."Well,theanimalsloseweight,andcholesterol,whichincreasescardiovascularrisk,nowgoesdown.Andthere'sagoodcholesterolcalledHDL,whichlevelgoesupwithFGF21treatment."Effortstogetthesameeffectinhumanshavebeenstymiedbythefactthattheeffectlastsonlyafewhours."Sothatmeans,togetthebeneficialeffectyouhavetoinjectalotofitandmanytimesduringtheday."SotheJapanese-bornresearcherandhiscolleaguestriedadifferentapproach.TheydevelopedantibodiesthatmimicFGF21byattachingtothesamereceptorsinthepancreasandelsewhere,andtheytesteditonmice."Thebloodglucoselevelgotnormalized.Andwekeptmonitoringbloodglucoseafterasingleinjectionofthisantibody,andittookalmost40daysforthebloodglucoseleveltocomebacktoa'normal'diabeticlevel,"Sonodasaid.Thatkindoflong-lastingeffectisoneofthethingsthatdrugdeveloperslookfor."Thiscouldbecometheveryfirstclassofdrugthatcouldreversethediseaseinsteadofjusttreatthesymptomsofdisease.Thatwouldbeahugebenefitforpatients."JunichiroSonodasaysfurtherworkisneededonthispotentialantibody-basedtreatmentfordiabetesbeforemovingontohumantesting.ApaperdescribingtheresearchispublishedinScienceTranslationalMedicine.
