Endocrinology - News & Articles

Regulatory protein identified in T1DM

As published in Pancreas, researchers at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine have identified a protein (islet homeostasis protein [IHoP]) which appears to control blood glucose levels by regulating the balance between insulin and glucagon. IHoP is released from glucagon-producing cells in the islets. In both humans and animals, high levels of IHoP exist in the euglycemic state, while T1DM is associated with an absence of IHoP. The authors suggest that IHoP may serve as a target in the treatment of T1DM.

Statins increase risk of DM in postmenopausal women

As reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers at the Mayo Clinic have shown an association between statin use and diabetes mellitus in postmenopausal women. The study involved 161,808 postmenopausal women (age range, 50-79 years) who were enrolled at 40 centers between 1993 and 1998 as part of the Women’s Health Initiative. Of the study cohort, data was available for 153,840 women without diabetes at baseline, 7.04% of whom used statins. There were 10,242 incident cases of diabetes in statin users (HR = 1.71) during 1,004,466 person-years of follow-up

Determining the basal insulin dosage in T2DM

Anthropometric, laboratory, and clinical findings were evaluated in 681 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus to determine the factors with the greatest influence on determining the basal insulin dosage for a target glucose level < 120 mg/dL. The authors reported that waist circumference, the duration of insulin treatment, lipid-lowering medications, use of insulin sensitizers, the HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose, HDL-C, and triglycerides levels, and severe NAFLD were most significant.