Issue 164 Item 11 Fish Insulin Discovery A Breakthrough In Diabetes Treatment

Scientists here have zeroed in on a new source of insulin in fish that mimics human insulin more closely than any known animal source — porcine or bovine — currently in use.

Biologists at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) struck upon the ‘biologically active’ insulin in fat cells of catla fish as a natural alternative to human pancreatic beta cell insulin.

“This new insulin is highly active and has shown greater biological activity than porcine insulin in rat models,” IICB Director and leader of the study group Dr Samir Bhattacharya said.

In their search for an alternative source of natural insulin, the eight-member team with researchers from IICB, Visva Bharati University’s Zoology department and Japan’s Gunma University, found that adipocytes (fat cells) from a carp can express the insulin gene and secrete immunoreactive insulin, which they have christened ‘AdpInsl’.

“We found high amount of immunoreactive insulin in carp plasma even though there were no islet tissues, considered a pre-requisite for secretion of insulin,” Bhattacharya said.

Experimenting on rats and hamsters made diabetic with a hyperglycemic agent, the team found that injecting the carp adipocyte extract significantly reduced their blood glucose levels

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Did YOU KNOW:
The early addition of insulin when maximal sulfonylurea therapy fails to keep fasting blood glucose levels below 108 mg/dL. can significantly improve glycemic control without increasing weight gain or hypoglycemic episodes. UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) 57