Smart insulin could prevent hypoglycemia in diabetics

The most common side effect of insulin therapy is (hypoglycemia) which defined as the low level of blood sugar, and for this reason; Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles have discovered a new insulin type which would have the ability to prevent the episodes of hypoglycemia for people who use insulin hormone therapy to control their diabetes.

So, Through this article on recent research studies site, we will illustrate all information about hypoglycemia in diabetics and this smart type of insulin in details.

Insulin Therapy

Insulin is an important chemical compound belong to hormones, this hormone secreted from the beta cells in the pancreas when we eat food in order to control the percent of sugar in our blood, so, any defect in insulin level in the body will result in diabetes mellitus type 1, and when the body cells fail to use insulin hormone which is produced inside the body; this will result in diabetes mellitus type 2.

Insulin therapy can control the two diabetes types by taking regular doses of Insulin injection, and all diabetics must test their blood glucose level through medical tests or by using glucose meter and return to the physician to decide the needed doses of insulin. Diabetics also must follow a healthy diet to get the appropriate amount of sugars (Carbohydrates) in order to maintain a healthy level of blood glucose.

But for regret, the management of sugars intake and the glucose meter may be exposed to human errors in some times, which lead to serious side effects. For example, taking too much amount of insulin can result in a severe decrease in the blood sugar level (hypoglycemia in diabetics) which may lead to seizures, coma, and death in some cases.

Smart insulin could prevent hypoglycemia in diabetics

The science and scientific research shed light on this issue and as an excellent result, the researchers at UCLA have succeeded in developing a new type of insulin (Smart Insulin) which prevent the too decrease of blood glucose level, and these results reported in the Journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The role of glucose within our body is to attach to cells and facilitate the entrance of glucose from the bloodstream to cells to be converted into energy. The UCLA researchers added a transporter inhibitor to the injected insulin, so this inhibitor has the ability to block glucose transporters once it arrives the surface of the cell, note that this inhibitor doesn’t block transporters completely, but it works in unique and dynamic way which allow the glucose molecules to enter the cells according to the number of inhibitor and the number of glucose molecules in the blood.

The first author of the study Zhen Gu explains this new type of insulin by saying:

“The insulin lets glucose get into the cell, but the added inhibitor molecule prevents too much from going in when blood sugar is normal. This keeps blood sugar at normal levels and reduces the risk of hypoglycemia”

Another co-author of the study Jingiang Wang explains that this smart insulin also has the ability to rapidly monitor and respond to the very high level of glucose in the blood.

when the study’s researchers tested this new form of insulin in an animal model (mouse) they found that it maintains the blood glucose level in a normal level for a long period reaches 10 hours after the first insulin injection, and further 3 hours after the second insulin injection.

Conclusion

The scientists aim now to develop a biocompatible and long term form of this smart insulin to test it on animal models for a long time before testing it on the human clinical trial, and if realized; this unique type of insulin will be a great hope for people with diabetes to get rid of their afraid of exposure to hypoglycemia.

Source

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-05/usso-ic051619.php

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