Harvard Study Could Hold Key to Diabetes Breakthrough
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Jeffrey Hamilton/Lifesize/Thinkstock(BOSTON) — A new study reports on a hormone discovery that could lead to a breakthrough in diabetes treatment.
According to Harvard University researchers, the new hormone, called betatrophin, offers promise for a dramatically more effective treatment for the estimated 26 million Americans living with type 2 diabetes.
In the study, released early online by the journal Cell, researchers found that betatrophin caused mice to produce 30 times as many beta cells that produce insulin. These new beta cells, however, only produce that insulin when the body needs it, offering the potential for the natural regulation of insulin.
If this same principle could be applied to humans, it would mean that instead of taking insulin injections three times a day, a person would take an injection of betatrophin once a week, once a month or even once a year.
Authors of the study note that while the research was done on mice, the hormone is known to exist in humans.
But, they caution, much more research is needed before betatrophin could be available as a drug for treatment in humans.
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