By JF Grodeska
According to the New Jersey State Health Assessment Data System website, a public health data resource, between 2017 and 2020, an estimated 6.5% of the population of Monmouth County had been diagnosed with diabetes. In 2020 the population of Monmouth County was 618,381. That means that approximately 40,195 neighbors, friends and family members are suffering from an illness that is the fourth leading cause of death in most developed countries, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Type-2 diabetes is on the rise throughout the United States and obesity is still one of the greatest risk factors for developing the disease. Diabetes occurs when the body doesn’t make enough insulin to get blood sugar into cells to use for energy. That blood sugar instead builds up in the bloodstream and over time can cause myriad complications, including heart and kidney disease, vision loss or a stroke. While there is no cure for diabetes, maintaining a healthy diet and getting enough physical activity can help. As little as 5% weight loss can reduce the risk of developing the disease. Injectable drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy – in the news recently for the spate of celebrities using them for weight loss – were originally developed for treating diabetes. They work by helping the pancreas produce more insulin, thus lowering blood sugar.
Now, there may be another hope for those fighting the disease. Case Western Reserve University, a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, and University Hospitals have discovered what they see as a new cause of diabetes and the potential for a new class of drugs to treat it.
Researchers have determined that an enzyme is responsible for blocking insulin production in the body. This enzyme could be a new target for treating diabetes.
The study, published in the journal Cell in December, focused on a compound called nitric oxide. It dilates blood vessels, improves memory, fights infection and stimulates the release of hormones, among other functions.
Researchers discovered a novel carrier – SNO-CoA-assisted nitrosylase (SCAN) – that attaches nitric oxide to proteins, including the receptor for insulin action.
The study showed that while normal levels of the SCAN enzyme were critical for standard insulin action, patients and mice with diabetes were found to have heightened SCAN activity levels. In mouse modeling, mice without the SCAN enzyme appeared protected from diabetes. This suggests that too much nitric oxide on proteins could be the cause of diabetes and other diseases – Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart failure and diabetes are all thought to be caused or accelerated by nitric oxide binding excessively to key proteins.
The study also indicated that “in human skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, SCAN expression increases with body mass index,” meaning weight loss is still a factor in reducing risk.
The next step could be the development of medicines that curtail the activity of the enzyme, a development that would bring hope to those impacted by diabetes.
The article originally appeared in the April 4 – 10, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
