Inhibiting the hormone somatostatin may be a new treatment strategy to prevent dangerous blood glucose drops in type 1 diabetes. This has been shown by a study conducted at, among others, the University of Gothenburg. The proposed strategy is said to have the potential to save lives.
In healthy individuals, a drop in blood glucose leads to the release of glucagon, a hormone that helps the liver produce glucose, which normalizes blood glucose levels. Glucagon has the opposite effect in the body to insulin, which lowers blood glucose. Both hormones are produced in the pancreas.
People with type 1 diabetes have a lack of insulin but also glucagon. When glucagon is not released during a drop in blood glucose, it leads to dangerously low blood sugar levels, a condition that causes around 10% of all deaths in type 1 diabetes. Restored ability to fend off drops in blood sugar The current study, which is published in the journal Nature Metabolism, presents a new potential treatment strategy against dangerous blood sugar drops in type 1 diabetes.
One of the leading researchers is Patrik Rorsman, Professor of Cellular Endocrinology at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and also active at the University of Oxford. The researchers examined groups of hormone-producing cells from the pancreas of both humans and mice. They were able to show that in type 1 diabetes, these islets are unable to release glucagon when blood sugar is low.
This is because the hormone somatosta.