Diabetes drug's healthy side effect

Monash researchers are testing a new diabetes drug for its potential to improve vascular health, as well as its primary purpose of regulating blood glucose levels.

Preliminary clinical studies suggest the drug may improve the condition of arteries in Type 2 diabetics. About 1.5 million Australians have diabetes, but only about half of them know it.Professor Richard Simpson and Dr Anthony Dear from Monash's Department of Medicine at Box Hill Hospital are leading a research team that has begun laboratory studies to gauge the suspected beneficial side effect of the glucose-regulating medication.Professor Simpson said the drug's extra potential was important, as Type 2 diabetics often had poor cardiovascular health. "We think this drug may have the potential to prevent heart attacks and strokes in those diabetics whose cardiovascular systems are damaged due to their disease," he said"Lots of drugs lower blood sugar but they don't necessarily protect blood vessels."Dr Dear said the glucose-regulating drug was a modified form of the human hormone, Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1). "It stimulates insulin release in the body and, because it is a derivative of a naturally-occurring substance which has receptors for it on the surface of cells, it is likely to be highly effective," he said."We think it may also 'smooth' the surface of vessel walls and make them less sticky -- a condition frequently seen in Type 2 diabetics. This would mean that clots, often the cause of heart attacks and strokes, would be less likely to form."The new drug could be available in two years. An international pharmaceutical company that specialises in diabetes care has provided $180,000 for the laboratory studies."The drug has the potential to offer tremendous help to Australia's thousands of diabetics, plus the millions of diabetics around the world," Dr Dear said.(Source: Monash University : November 2006.)