Mouse Model Helps Identify New Diabetes Treatment

Results of a study carried out in a mouse model of human diabetes suggested that the dietary supplement gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) complemented the activity of specific antibody therapy (ABT) to prevent disease progression and improve glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity.

Investigators at the University of California, San Diego (USA) worked with a population of nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. After these animals had developed a diabetes-like syndrome, they were treated with GABA alone or together with an antibody for 28 days. At the end of the treatment period, new pancreatic beta cells were transplanted into the mice and the length of survival of the cells was determined.

Results published in the September 22, 2011, online edition of the journal PLoS One revealed that the combined GABA and ABT treatment had a synergistic effect in a dose-dependent fashion. The treatment helped prevent disease progression and improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, even after onset of Type II diabetes in the mice.

The investigators concluded that, “In the future, GABA taken as a supplement or related medications may provide new therapeutic agents for the treatment of obesity-related Type II diabetes and metabolic syndrome.”

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University of California, San Diego