Miracle molecule for diabetes?

A molecule which tricks the body into thinking it’s been exercising could be an effective treatment for diabetes.

Woman running with sun setting behind

Exercise is good for us. It keeps diseases at bay and weight levels healthier. But it is not always practical or even possible. What if we could harness science to get at least some of the benefits without even breaking a sweat?

Ali Tavassoli, professor of chemical biology at the University of Southampton, could have the answer in the shape of a molecule which mimics some of the body’s post-exercise responses. And this has the potential to reduce obesity and treat diabetes, a disease which affects one in every 11 people in the world, claims 4 million lives each year and costs USD727 billion in medical bills.

“Our cells have sensors which measure when we’re running out of energy,” he explains. When the sensor – known as AMPK – detects a shortage of energy, it kick starts the body into producing more.

“If you could have a molecule that can activate AMPK, that might be a useful way of treating diabetes, metabolic disorders and may be even of inhibiting tumors.”

the use of compound 14 in reducing glucose levels and weight in mice

Compound-14, discovered by Tavassoli and his team, has the potential to do just that. It interferes with the metabolic process, resulting in the production of a molecule called ZMP, which in turn activates the AMPK sensor. The cells think they are running out of energy – as they would be, for example, after doing exercise. In response, they try to generate more energy by increasing glucose absorption and metabolism.

Having successfully tested this hypothesis on isolated cells, Tavassoli joined forces with Dr Felino Cagampang, associate professor of integrative physiology at Southampton, to look at the effects on mice which had been fed a high fat diet and had developed diabetic-like symptoms.

“By giving them Compound-14 we were able to alleviate the symptoms: their blood sugar came down to approaching normal levels and, after seven doses, they were processing glucose much more quickly. They also lost 5 per cent of their body weight,” Tavassoli says. “The results point to AMPK being activated, and that is leading to increased processing of glucose from the blood stream.”

forecasted rise in diabetes from 425 to 629 million adults between now and 2045.

The compound had no impact on a control group of healthy mice, which had been fed a normal diet.

However, there is still a lot of research to be done in refining the molecule before it can be used to treat humans.

“The safety profile needed for a diabetes drug is quite stringent, because people may need to take this for many years. It is very challenging to find a compound that is going to have zero to little side effects for a number of years,” Tavassoli says. “But our current data indicates that our lead compound has a lot of potential.”