A new analysis conducted by researchers from the United States revealed that giving the hormone leptin – which gives a feeling of satiety – can treat one of the serious complications that occur as a result of the absence of insulin and is known as diabetic ketogenic acidosis.
The brain plays a major role in stimulating diabetic ketogenic acidosis, according to the new analysis based on previous research.
Diabetic ketoacidosis occurs when the body is unable to produce insulin that helps to use glucose (blood sugar) as an energy source, and then it begins to break the fat to obtain energy.
This can lead to the accumulation of unused sugar and ketogenic acids resulting from the use of fats to produce energy in the blood, which threatens life, and doctors usually resort to giving insulin to treat these complications.
The research team discovered that leptin could contribute to solving the diabetic ketoin acid problem in 2011 when they first injected the leptin hormone into the brains of rats and mice with type 1 diabetes. Initially, nothing happened, but after four days they were surprised when glucose and ketogenic levels in the blood of animals became completely normal despite the continuous acute insulin deficiency, and the diabetes research community did not know what to do with this discovery at that time.
After a decade, an analysis was published explaining how the leptin affects the brain and how it can be used in future treatments, in a study published on August 1 in the Journal of Clinical Investigations, and the Yurrick Alert website was written about.
Convince the brain that the energy is present
According to the researcher participating in the study, Dr. Michael Schwartz, a professor of medicine in the Department of metabolism, endocrine and nutrition at the University of Washington University, when the pancreas is unable to produce insulin, “the brain receives a message that the body lacks energy, even if it is not, and this information is partly through the low level of the leptin hormone in the blood.”
And if the brain can be persuaded that its energy store is not exhausted, or if the activity of some brain neurons that stimulate the production of glucose and ketones, the body stops the reaction that leads to a sharp rise in blood sugar and diabetic ketogenic acids.
“This new framework contradicts the prevailing belief that insulin deficiency is the only reason for diabetic ketogenic acids, a belief that prevailed for decades. It appears that the brain plays an important role in the emergence of unworthy diabetes, and may represent a key to new treatments.”
The leptin helps the brain regulates appetite and body weight, produces fat cells in the body, and the hormone is transmitted through the bloodstream to the brain, specifically to an area called below the mulch, and this is the part of the brain that controls the time and amount of food that you eat. The deficiency of leptin in the brain stimulates circuits that move energy sources, including glucose and ketones.
The co -author Dr. Earl Hersh, head of the Department of Diabetes Treatment and Teaching at the Faculty of Medicine at Washington University and professor of metabolism, endocrine and nutrition at the University of Washington University, considers that “this is one of the most exciting discoveries in my career.” He added that controlling the level of blood sugar using leptin can open new horizons to treat patients.
Hirsch, who suffered from type 1 diabetes since childhood, added, “Do not offend my understanding, so the discovery of insulin 104 years ago is one of the greatest discoveries of the last century, but this is the next step, this may be a better way.”