Better Diabetes Treatment: New Insulin Molecule Can Self-Regulate Blood Sugar
upstart writes:
Better diabetes treatment: New insulin molecule can self-regulate blood sugar:
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and biotech firm Gubra have developed a new insulin molecule that, in the future, will ensure that diabetics receive just the right amount of insulin.
The insulin on the market today is unable to identify whether a patient with type 1 diabetes needs a small or large effect from the insulin, which lowers blood sugar.
"That is why we have developed the first step towards a kind of insulin that can self-adjust according to a patient's blood sugar level. This has tremendous potential to vastly improve the lives of people with type 1 diabetes," explains Professor Knud J. Jensen, of the University of Copenhagen's Department of Chemistry, one of the researchers behind a new study on this new insulin.
The researchers behind the study developed a type of insulin with a built-in molecular-binding that can sense how much blood sugar is in the body. As blood sugar rises, the molecule becomes more active and releases more insulin. As blood sugar drops, less is released.
"The molecule constantly releases a small amount of insulin, but varies according to need," says Knud J. Jensen, who continues:
[...] "The difficult thing with diabetes is that insulin always works the same way. It lowers blood sugar, even though that might not be what a patient requires. This is what we seek to address with our new molecule."
Journal Reference:
Karin Mannerstedt, Narendra Kumar Mishra, Ebbe Engholm, et al. An Aldehyde Responsive, Cleavable Linker for Glucose Responsive Insulins, Chemistry - A European Journal (DOI: 10.1002/chem.202004878)
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