Utah research reveals drug target for diabetes treatment
A new University of Utah study may offer a new drug target for treating diabetes, a disease that more than 20 million Americans have. The study, involving rats and mice that develop diabetes-like diseases, showed that hindering the creation of a fat molecule helped prevent insulin resistance. Ceramide, the fat molecule, is linked to saturated fats, said Scott Summers, a U. School of Medicine researcher.
Part of the work, published in March, 2007 in the journal Cell Metabolism, showed that a drug was able to reduce ceramide accumulation. "If we pre-treated with this drug," said Summers, a study author, "[the rat] never became diabetic." The drug involved causes serious side effects in humans, so pharmaceutical companies must find different formulas to target the ceramide molecule. It could be 10 years before an acceptable human drug makes it through clinical trials. "This shows that ceramide is an important component in insulin resistance," he said.
