New Treatment for Diabetes
For 100 years, insulin has been the only option to manage type 1 diabetes and severe type 2 diabetes; however, current treatments can’t prevent nerve damage and debilitating complications of diabetes. Ouliana Ziouzenkova, PhD, collaborated with colleagues to develop the first amino acid compound (AAC) capable of reducing hyperglycemia in blood and improving brain cell energetics that abolish the cognitive deficits in animal models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Ouliana Ziouzenkova, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Human Sciences in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University and a researcher for the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
SOURCE: Lee A, Sun Y, Lin T, Song NJ, Mason ML, Leung JH, Kowdley D, Wall J, Brunetti A, Fitzgerald J, Baer LA, Stanford KI, Ortega-Anaya J, Gomes-Dias L, Needleman B, Noria S, Weil Z, Blakeslee JJ, Jiménez-Flores R, Parquette JR, Ziouzenkova O. Amino acid-based compound activates atypical PKC and leptin receptor pathways to improve glycemia and anxiety like behavior in diabetic mice. Biomaterials. 2020 May;239:119839. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.119839. Epub 2020 Feb 8. PMID: 32065973; PMCID: PMC7085115.
Identifying a Trigger in Heart Failure
People with diabetes are at increased risk for heart attacks that eventually lead to heart failure. Prabhakara Nagareddy, PhD, MPharm, collaborated with colleagues to test the idea that elevated neutrophil count, which is linked to a higher risk of adverse cardiac outcomes, may play a role in early development of heart failure. Using samples from heart attack patients and mouse models, they identified a novel signaling mechanism by which neutrophils that are recruited to the injured heart exacerbate inflammation, delay wound healing, and ultimately trigger heart failure. These findings suggest that targeting neutrophils immediately after a heart attack may reduce future heart failure, particularly in people with diabetes whose neutrophils are activated.
Prabhakara Nagareddy, PhD, MPharm, is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery and a researcher for the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
SOURCE: Sreejit G, Abdel-Latif A, Athmanathan B, Annabathula R, Dhyani A, Noothi SK, Quaife-Ryan GA, Al-Sharea A, Pernes G, Dragoljevic D, Lal H, Schroder K, Hanaoka BY, Raman C, Grant MB, Hudson JE, Smyth SS, Porrello ER, Murphy AJ, Nagareddy PR. Neutrophil-Derived S100A8/A9 Amplify Granulopoiesis After Myocardial Infarction. Circulation. 2020 Mar 31;141(13):1080-1094. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.043833. Epub 2020 Jan 16. PMID: 31941367; PMCID: PMC7122461.