Scientists have developed a personalized treatment for diabetes that is associated with stress. A treatment for type 2 diabetes that targets the mechanism of the disease (not just the symptoms) has been developed by researchers. For the first time used knowledge about the genetic risk profile of a particular patient. Treatment completely restores the ability to secrete insulin, which is impaired by the risk gene.

The stress gene as a cause of diabetes.

The concept of personalized treatment defines an individual's risk profile. The results showed that it is possible to block the effects of a common risk gene for type 2 diabetes.. A milestone was an article in the journal Science in 2009. Then several research teams from Lund University reported that the most common gene variant in the population is insulin-producing cells that are sensitive to stress hormones.. This significantly impairs the ability of pancreatic beta cells to secrete insulin..

Yohimbine Blocks the Stress Gene and Treats Diabetes.

Continued work showed that Yohimbine, a drug derived from the bark of the African plant yohimbe (lat.. Pausinystalia johimbe), effectively blocks the harmful effects of the gene variant in animal experiments, as well as in insulin-producing human cells.. When Yohimbine was administered, the ability to secrete insulin improved. This gene variant is quite common.. 30% of the population has the stress gene; it is often determined in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Of the 400,000 people in Sweden who have type 2 diabetes, 40% of patients carry the stress gene. With the disease mechanism and method of neutralization known, the next step was to test it on patients.. 50 patients with type 2 diabetes were selected. 21 of them did not have the stress gene, while the rest were carriers. All of them passed the glucose tolerance test, which showed how well insulin is secreted in response to an excess sugar load..

Not surprisingly, insulin secretion was 25% worse in patients with the risk gene. Subsequently, all study participants were given yohimbine or placebo on three separate occasions, after which insulin secretion was again recorded..

Yohimbine neutralized the effects of the stress gene. Carriers of the risk gene received the same ability to secrete insulin as without this gene..

Yohimbine is used to minimize the side effects of diabetes, in this case high blood pressure.. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of this drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.. In theory, Yohimbe should be effective in the 40% of people with type 2 diabetes who carry this genetic risk variant..

global science. en.