POST Online Media Lite Edition
 

NEWLY REPORTED COVID-19 CASES (11.19.2021, 4:50pm CEST, WHO):   India 11,106    Brazil 11,977    United Kingdom 46,858    Russia 37,156    Turkey 22,234    France 19,840    Argentina 1,553    Germany 52,970    Spain 3,932    Columbia 2,257    Italy 10,645    Mexico 3,836    Ukraine 20,050    Poland 23,242    Philippines 1,297    Malaysia 6,380    Netherlands 23,680    Peru 1,370    Thailand 6,855    Czechia 13,374    Canada 2,448    Romania 3,076    Chile 2,611    Serbia 3,219    Sweden 1,210    Portugal 2,398    Vietnam 10,223    Kazakhstan 1,272    Austria 14,212    Hungary 11,289    Greece 7,276    Georgia 4,278    Bulgaria 2,785    Belarus 1,844    Slovakia 7,418    Azerbaijan 2,124    Croatia 7,270    Bolivia 1,119    Ireland 4,646    Lithuania 1,847    Denmark 4,013    South Korea 3,034    Slovenia 3,662    Latvia 1,221    Laos 1,401    China 31    New Zealand 200    Australia 1,302   

Drug dramatically reduces diabetes symptoms in mice

Staff writer ▼ |
Can diabetes be prevented and even reversed? Yes, it can, at least in genetically obese mice, according to a study by led by researchers Bruce Hammock at the University of California, Davis, and Joan Clària at the University of Barcelona.

Article continues below






The research involves a potent enzyme inhibitor discovered by Hammock's laboratory that dramatically reduces inflammation, inflammatory pain and neuropathic pain.

In the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an enzyme called soluble epoxide hydrolase, or sEH, inhibitor both prevented the onset of diabetes and reversed the effects of diabetes in obese mice.

"Our previous studies show the drug we are working on will reduce the symptoms of diabetes in mice by itself," Hammock said, "but the excitement about Joan Clària's work is that if the mice have a genetically increased level of omega-3 fatty acids—the drug offers prevention or cure in mice."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3 percent of the population, have diabetes, which is characterized by abnormal blood glucose levels. This includes 8.1 million undiagnosed cases.

The new drug apparently works by stabilizing metabolites of an omega-3 fatty acid called DHA. These metabolites are thought to contribute to the beneficial effects of a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids, Hammock said.

Previous UC Davis research in the laboratories of Hammock, Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, Robert Weiss, Anne Knowlton and Fawaz Haj showed that the enzyme reduces or reverses such diabetes-linked medical issues as renal failure, hypertension, diabetic pain, hardening of the arteries and heart failure. ■