An important breakthrough was made yesterday in the search for a drug to treat diabetes. Japanese researchers at the University of Tokyo and an American team, led by Dr Philip Scherer, have both discovered that a natural substance produced by fat cells, adiponectin, plays an important part in determining whether someone becomes diabetic in later life. The development may lead to mass production of a drug that could be used to treat type-2 diabetes  one of the fastest growing metabolic disorders. Type2 diabetes affects millions world wide. It normally occurs when people develop resistance to their own insulin, the hormone which balances sugar levels in the bloodstream. The disease, linked with obesity, usually affects people over 40 and can cause blindness, kidney damage and cardiovascular disease. It is believed that fat cells, particularly in muscle tissue, contribute to a lack of sensitivity to insulin. Adiponectin, a substance produced by the fat cells, seems to work by burning fat in the muscle cells and reinstating the sensitivity. The two teams discovered that injecting laboratory mice with the substance was a 'cure' for type-2 diabetes. The research will be published today in Nature medicine. The Independent

From Netdoctor.co.uk