Studies in endocrinology are focusing attention on obesity and diabetes – two of the major health issues facing the western world, writes VINCENT RYAN
THE POSSIBILITY of a breakthrough in the battle against diabetes was the focus of attention at a packed conference centre in San Diego, California, recently where Endo 2010, the Endocrine Society’s world conference, heard more than 350 presentations.
Endocrinology is the study of the physiological functions of hormones, and of the cells of the endocrine glands and tissues that secrete them.
Two of the major health issues facing the western world fall within the field of endocrinology. Obesity and diabetes are the focus of a huge amount of research as their prevalence among the population increases.
A major breakthrough in the battle against type 1 diabetes was the formation and preservation of new insulin-producing beta cells. Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body attacking and destroying insulin-producing beta cells located in the pancreas.
Dr Kerem Ozer, of the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism Centre at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, presented new research in which he and his colleagues successfully stimulated the growth and preservation of new beta cells in mice.
Beta cells had successfully been grown before, but the test subjects’ immune systems had always killed the new cells until now. By adding interleukin 10, an immune system regulator, Ozer’s team was able to protect the newly formed beta cells.
Ozer said: “We saw that the combination of the insulin-producing cell treatment with the immune system regulator led to the reversal of diabetes in half of the mice treated.”
Despite his team’s success, Ozer said they were a long way from curing type 1 diabetes. “As is the case with a lot of things, we set out to answer one question, and now we face a new set of questions,” he said.
Dr Tony Goldstone, scientist and consultant endocrinologist at the Hammersmith Hospital Imperial College, London, encouraged people trying to lose weight not to skip breakfast. He was presenting his findings on the effect the hunger hormone ghrelin has on food preference.
His study found that ghrelin, which acts on the brain stimulating hunger and an increase in food intake, also heightens the appeal of high-calorie over low-calorie foods.
The study involved testing the food preferences of people who had eaten breakfast and those who hadn’t. Those who had breakfast but had been administered ghrelin had a similar preference for high-calorie foods to those who hadn’t.
Goldstone said this could have practical application as a drug which blocks ghrelin would help people lose weight by reducing cravings for high-calorie foods.
A separate study found that an additive in high-calorie foods resulted in fat cells being fatter and an increase in abdominal fat in children.
High-fructose corn syrup, which is widely used in soft drinks and processed foods, appears to have the unique ability to stimulate the development of the fat cells in the abdominal area, according to Dr Jeff Holly , professor of clinical science at the University of Bristol.
The body produces two types of fat – abdominal or visceral fat and subcutaneous. Abdominal fat is particularly harmful as it is associated with a higher instance of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
“This study adds to the emerging evidence that replacing sucrose with high-fructose corn sugar may inadvertently have more negative effects on our existing diet,” said Holly.
