Common diabetes drug lowers heart-disease risk
Dr. Jai Maharaj
By Lois Baker
Contributing Editor
UB Reporter - Volume 34, Number 32
The University of Buffalo
Thursday, July 3, 2003 at
UB endocrinologists have shown for the first time that
the concentration of a proinflammatory compound known as
MIF is increased in the blood plasma of the obese, and
that metformin, a standard medicine prescribed for
diabetes, suppresses its formation.
The findings are among the latest in series of UB studies
of the anti-inflammatory potential of insulin and insulin
sensitizers, and their ability to decrease
proinflammatory components in the blood stream linked to
heart disease in diabetics and the obese.
They were presented at the 85th annual meeting of the
Endocrine Society held recently in Philadelphia and at
the preceding American Diabetes Association meeting in
New Orleans.
Metformin is an insulin sensitizer prescribed for
diabetics, but it also has been shown to lower heart-
disease mortality in these patients, said Paresh Dandona,
professor in the Department of Medicine in the School of
Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and lead author on the
study.
"Nobody knew the mechanism responsible for this favorable
effect on heart disease," he said. "We have shown that
metformin suppresses the circulating inflammatory factor
MIF, which contributes to blocked arteries. When we
administered metformin, MIF concentrations came hurtling
down."
Persons with Type 2 diabetes develop a condition known as
insulin insensitivity early in the disease process. Cells
that normally would allow insulin to transport glucose
from the blood stream to the liver for storage until it
is needed as body fuel no longer respond to insulin,
resulting in a toxic buildup of glucose in the blood
stream, which damages tissue lining blood vessels. Such
damage leads to vessel-wall inflammation and eventually
to blocked arteries.
Obesity is a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes because
increased storage of fat molecules in fatty tissue is
linked to insulin resistance. Metformin is prescribed for
Type 2 diabetes to inhibit glucose production in the
liver and increase insulin sensitivity.
Researchers at Kaleida Health's Diabetes-Endocrinology
Center of Western New York, which Dandona directs,
measured fasting levels of the proinflammatory factor MIF
(macrophage migration inhibitory factor) in blood samples
from 40 obese and 40 normal-weight study participants.
Results showed that the average concentration of MIF in
the obese was twice that of the normal-weight
participants.
Nine of the obese subjects then underwent a six-week
course of metformin treatment. Results showed that the
mean plasma concentration of MIF had fallen by 20 percent
at the end of six weeks, compared to baseline.
"This action of metformin may help prevent
atherosclerosis," said Dandona, "and may explain why
persons with Type 2 diabetes who are treated with
metformin are at lower risk of dying from heart disease."
Also contributing to the study were Ahmad Aljada,
research assistant professor of medicine; Deborah
Hofmeyer, research assistant; Priya Mohanty, clinical
instructor of medicine; Chandana Tripathy, medical
resident, and Ajay Chaudhuri, assistant professor of
medicine, all from the Diabetes-Endocrinology Center of
Western New York of Kaleida Health.
Read the complete news at:
http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol34/vol34n32/articles/DandonaMIF.html
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
Panchaang for 5 Ashadh 5104, Thursday, July 3, 2003:
Shubhanu Nama Samvatsare Dakshinaya Nartana Ritau
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