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Platypus venom could hold key to new type 2 diabetes treatment: Aussie researchers

Xinhua, December 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Australian researchers believe the venom from one of the nation's most iconic mammals, the platypus, could one day help scientists create a super effective treatment for type 2 diabetes.

Scientists from the University of Adelaide noted that the insulin regulation glands in the platypus had undergone "remarkable" evolutionary changes, in a discovery they believe could pave the way for future clinical trials.

Professor Frank Grützner said on Thursday the platypus produces a hormone in its venom which acts as a super effective blood glucose regulator.

The hormone, called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), is also produced by humans but degrades within minutes, meaning those with type 2 diabetes require a treatment to ensure a constant stream of insulin.

Grützner said the GLP-1 produced by the platypus had "evolved" over time to be longer lasting, something which could revolutionize treatment for human sufferers.

"Our research team has discovered that our iconic platypus has evolved changes in the hormone that make it resistant to the rapid degradation normally seen in humans," Grützner said in comments published in Thursday's newspapers.

"We've found that GLP-1 is degraded by a completely different mechanism. Further analysis revealed that there was a kind of molecular warfare going on between the function of GLP-1, which is produced in the gut but surprisingly also in their venom."

Co-lead author Associate Professor Briony Forbes, from Flinders University's School of Medicine, said "This tug of war between the different functions has resulted in dramatic changes in the GLP-1 system."

"The function in venom has most likely triggered the evolution of a stable form of GLP-1 in monotremes. Excitingly, stable GLP-1 molecules are highly desirable as potential type 2 diabetes treatments."

Grützner said the findings could one day pave the way for scientists to create an extremely effective type 2 diabetes treatment.

"These findings have the potential to inform diabetes treatment, one of our greatest health challenges, although exactly how we can convert this finding into a treatment will need to be the subject of future research," he said. Endit