Assessing the Role of Leptin in Treating Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes patients are dependent on the hormone insulin for their very survival, and now scientists are engaging in an effort to see whether they can make the therapy more effective by adding the hormone leptin to the mix as well.

This type of diabetics has abnormally high levels of sugar in their blood stream, because insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas, becomes unable to regulate them properly.

People suffering from this type of imbalance need to have insulin shots administered to them daily, or otherwise they risk death.

Experts have for a long time predicted that adding the protein hormone leptin to insulin in the shots would be beneficial for patients.

In the human body, this chemical plays a critical role in controlling some of the mechanisms associated with appetite and metabolism, as well as in regulating energy intake and expenditure.

The substance is naturally produced by fat cells, and so introducing it into the body via shots would have no conceivable side-effects, healthcare experts say.

A clinical trial attempting to merge the effects of insulin and leptin is currently underway at UT Southwestern, an institution that is a part of the University of Texas System.

The group in charge of the work is using a form of the hormone called metreleptin, which is slightly modified in comparison to the all-natural form, Science Blog reports. 

“Leptin has been very effective in improving diabetes in patients with lipodystrophies who have extreme lack of body fat, and recently leptin therapy has helped improve blood sugar control in animal models of type 1 diabetes,” says expert Dr. Abhimanyu Garg.

“Although we have no assurances that this will work in humans, we hope that the addition of leptin will be beneficial to patients with type 1 diabetes,” adds the scientist.

Garg is a professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern, and also the principal investigator of the new clinical trial.

The new approach may also have another added benefit, and namely making patients lose weight. The onset of diabetes is oftentimes associated with obesity, scientists say.

“Leptin is known to decrease appetite, so it’s likely that participants won’t be as hungry,” explains assistant professor of internal medicine Dr. Gregory Clark, who is an investigator on the study.

“We hope that the addition of leptin also reduces the blood levels of cholesterol, which increase the risk of coronary heart disease, one of the long-term complications of diabetes,” he concludes.