Some treatments for type 2 diabetes make the body more sensitive to insulin, the hormone that lowers blood sugar. But new research at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM), St. Louis, suggests a different strategy: slowing the production of glucose in the liver.
Working in mice, the researchers showed they could reduce glucose production in the liver and lower blood sugar levels. They did so by shutting down a liver protein involved in making glucose, an approach that may work in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The research is published in Cell Metabolism.
“We think this strategy could lead to more effective drugs for type 2 diabetes,” said principal investigator Brian N. Finck, PhD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science. “A drug that shuts down glucose production has the potential to help millions of people affected by the most common form of diabetes.”
This article was adapted from information provided by WUSM.