{"id":387276,"date":"2022-07-18T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?post_type=selected&amp;p=387276"},"modified":"2022-07-18T12:30:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T10:30:00","slug":"a-step-closer-to-a-life-without-insulin-thanks-to-a-swiss-research","status":"publish","type":"selected","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/selected\/a-step-closer-to-a-life-without-insulin-thanks-to-a-swiss-research\/","title":{"rendered":"A step closer to a life without insulin thanks to a Swiss research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Insulin therapy, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2021, has probably saved the lives of hundreds of millions of people suffering from type 1 diabetes or severe forms of type 2 diabetes. However, it has some risks, if the doses are too high or too low, and is even directly responsible for some potentially fatal conditions &#8211; writes the University of Geneva in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unige.ch\/communication\/communiques\/%21drafts\/diabete-un-pas-de-plus-vers-une-vie-sans-insuline\\\">press release<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consequently, the life expectancy of insulin-dependent diabetics is reduced by 10 to 15 years compared to the norm. \u201cLife-threatening hypoglycaemia, negative impact on fat metabolism and increased cholesterol: these are some severe side effects of insulin. This is why we are looking to develop complementary or alternative treatments that are more effective and less dangerous\u201d, summarises Roberto Coppari, a Professor in the Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism and Coordinator of the Diabetes Centre of UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, who directed this work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The S100A9 protein proves its worth<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2019, Professor Coppari\u2019s team identified a protein called S100A9 that regulates blood glucose, lipids and ketones (a product of fatty acidic oxidation in the liver when the body no longer has enough glucose to function), without the side effects of insulin. \u201cTo develop a drug, however, we had to understand how this protein works precisely and demonstrate its effectiveness in animal models,\u201d emphasises Girorgio Ramadori, a research associate in Professor Coppari\u2019s lab and lead author of this study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team first set out to decipher the mode of action of S100A9 in diabetic mice. \u201cIt turns out that this protein acts in the liver,\u201d says Gloria Ursino, a first author of the study and post-doctoral fellow in the research team. \u201cIt activates the TLR4 receptor, which is located on the membrane of certain cells, but not on the hepatocytes, which are the main functional cells of the liver.\u201d This is excellent news from a pharmacological point of view: it means that S100A9 does not need to enter the liver cells to act and allows for a simple injection mode of administration.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"vlp-link-container vlp-layout-basic wp-block-visual-link-preview-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/treating-type-ii-diabetes-without-drugs-but-with-ultrasound\/\" class=\"vlp-link\" title=\"Treating type II Diabetes without drugs but with ultrasound\"><\/a><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-side\"><div class=\"vlp-block-2 vlp-link-image\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-main\"><div class=\"vlp-block-0 vlp-link-title\">Treating type II Diabetes without drugs but with ultrasound<\/div><div class=\"vlp-block-1 vlp-link-summary\">A multi-institutional team including Yale School of Medicine (YSM)\u00a0Yale School of Medicine (YSM) led by Dr. Raimund Herzog has demonstrated the use of ultrasound which stimulates specific neurometabolic pathways in the body. Because of this, the body will make insulin and diabetes can be cured. <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>In diabetic people, insulin deficiency can cause a sudden increase in ketones and acidification of the blood, a mechanism called diabetic ketoacidosis. This is a life-threatening emergency that affects 2-4 percent of people with type 1 diabetes every year. \u201cTLR4 activation in the liver controls the production of ketones,\u201d explains Gloria Ursino. \u201cBut this activation process does not trigger inflammation, whereas TLR4 is usually pro-inflammatory. The S100A9-TLR4 dialogue therefore seems to act as a totally unexpected anti-inflammatory drug.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A strategy in several steps<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The scientists completed their results by examining the blood of diabetic people arriving at the emergency room with severe insulin deficiency. \u201cA slight but insufficient natural increase in S100A9 is detected,\u201d explains Giorgio Ramadori. \u201cTherefore, additional administration of S100A9 is expected to enhance this compensatory mechanism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the idea of a combination of drugs has already been explored, previous research has focused on drugs that increase insulin sensitivity. \u201cBut this only leads to the same results with lower doses.&nbsp; The side effects of insulin therapy remain the same,\u201d explains Roberto Coppari. \u201cHere, we propose a radically different strategy with a drug that works independently of insulin and that can neither trigger hypoglycaemia nor disrupt fat metabolism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The scientists will initially test their drug in conjunction with low doses of insulin, but do not rule out the possibility of administering the S100A9 protein alone in the future, in specific conditions. To further develop this highly innovative therapy, Roberto Coppari and Giorgio Ramadori have created a start-up company, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diatheris.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Diatheris<\/a>, supported by UNITEC, the UNIGE\u2019s technology transfer office, and FONGIT, the main foundation supporting technological entrepreneurship in the canton of Geneva.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2084,"featured_media":516491,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":""},"categories":[34665],"tags":[37420,56332,36786],"location":[52892],"internal_archives":[],"class_list":["post-387276","selected","type-selected","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-diabetes-en","tag-insuline","tag-university-of-geneva","location-switzerland"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/VZ0hWy5S-suWzV4uo-2Pd7rz2B-diabetes-gcd4e42c87_1920.jpg","coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/mauro-mereu\/","display_name":"Mauro Mereu"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 4 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on July 18, 2022","modified":"Updated on July 18, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on July 18, 2022 12:30 pm","modified":"Updated on July 18, 2022 12:30 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","tax_additional":{"category":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/health\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Health<\/span>"],"slug":"category","name":"Categories"},"post_tag":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/tag\/diabetes-en\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Diabetes<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/tag\/insuline\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Insuline<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/tag\/university-of-geneva\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">University of Geneva<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Diabetes<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Insuline<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">University of Geneva<\/span>"],"slug":"post_tag","name":"Tags"},"language":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">EN<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">EN<\/span>"],"slug":"language","name":"Tags"},"post_translations":{"linked":[],"unlinked":[],"slug":"post_translations","name":""},"location":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/location\/switzerland\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Switzerland<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Switzerland<\/span>"],"slug":"location","name":"Locations"},"internal_archives":{"linked":[],"unlinked":[],"slug":"internal_archives","name":"Internal Archives"}},"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/selected\/387276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/selected"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/selected"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387276"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=387276"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=387276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}