New diabetes drug could make insulin injections redundant

Researchers have found a breakthrough diabetes drug that they claim will obviate the need for frequent and painful insulin injections.

Research led by scientists at the University of Adelaide in Australia has shown how the potential anti-diabetic drug interacts with its target in the body at the molecular level.

Diabetes Mellitus or Type II diabetes, the most common form of the disease, which mainly affects adults but also an increasing number of children with unhealthy lifestyles, is a condition wherein the body is either unable to produce insulin on its own or is not able to use it properly. Patients are required to take insulin injections to keep their blood sugar in control. Insulin jabs are usually required to be taken several times in a day and in some cases more than one type of insulin may be used.

"Type II diabetes is characterised by resistance to insulin with subsequent high blood sugar which leads to serious disease. It is usually associated with poor lifestyle factors such as diet and lack of exercise," said John Bruning, from University of Adelaide.

The new drug doesn't act on the liver to reduce glucose product like most commonly prescribed anti-diabetes drugs such as Metformin. Instead it targets a protein receptor known as PPARgamma found in fat tissue throughout the body, either fully or partially activating it in order to lower blood sugar by increasing sensitivity to insulin and changing the metabolism of fat and sugar.

"People with severe diabetes need to take insulin but having to inject this can be problematic, and it's difficult to get insulin levels just right," said Bruning. The new drug could solve this problem.