(Press-News.org) CHICAGO, IL — In adults with prediabetes, a new drug that alters microbial populations and their environment in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract improves glucose tolerance—the body's response to consuming carbohydrates— after four weeks of treatment and without a change in diet. These results, from a pilot study, will be presented Monday at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society: ICE/ENDO 2014 in Chicago.
The not-yet-named therapeutic, NM504, is the first in a new class of therapies known as GI microbiome modulators. The GI microbiome—the mix of microbial and associated physical and chemical factors in the digestive system—may play a critical part in regulating the body's metabolism, some researchers believe. There is recent scientific evidence that microbial imbalance, or dysbiosis, in the gut contributes to the development of Type 2 diabetes.
"We believe that modern Western diets contribute to development of Type 2 diabetes, in part because they change the habitat of the microorganisms that reside in the gut. This shifts the microbial populations that live there in ways that affect metabolic health," said Mark Heiman, PhD, the study's principal investigator. Heiman is chief scientific officer for MicroBiome Therapeutics, the Colorado-based biotechnology company that is developing NM504 and sponsored the study.
NM504 is designed to shift the GI bacteria and other microorganisms—called microbiota—and their environment in specific ways to achieve improved health outcomes, according to Heiman. He said the drug contains concentrated bioactive food ingredients: inulin, a fiber; beta-glucan and polyphenolic antioxidant compounds.
Heiman and colleagues conducted a study in 28 adults with prediabetes, a frequent precursor to Type 2 diabetes. Fourteen subjects were randomly assigned to receive NM504 twice a day, and the other 14 were assigned to receive placebo, or "dummy" material. Neither the subjects nor the investigators were aware of the drug assignments. Before any treatment and again at four weeks of treatment, all subjects had an oral glucose challenge. In this test, they drank a concentrated glucose (sugary) drink and then had their blood sugar levels tested at various times and compared with pretest levels.
Blood sugar levels at 120 and 180 minutes after the glucose challenge were significantly lower in subjects who took NM504 than those who received the placebo, Heiman reported. Also during this test, NM504 increased insulin sensitivity, the body's ability to successfully clear glucose from the bloodstream.
Compared with placebo, NM504 treatment also decreased the desire to eat, which Heiman said Microbiome Therapeutics' researchers had hoped the therapeutic would do. He said the subjects tolerated NM504 well, with only a mild increase in flatulence, or gas.
"This work indicates a new therapeutic target—the GI microbiome—that has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of metabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes," Heiman commented.
MicroBiome Therapeutics reports that the company plans to develop NM504 and/or a closely related therapeutic as a prescription medicine to treat prediabetes and diabetes.
INFORMATION:
Founded in 1916, the Endocrine Society is the world's oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, the Endocrine Society's membership consists of over 17,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 100 countries. Society members represent all basic, applied and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Washington, DC. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/EndoMedia.
Blood sugar improves with first gastrointestinal microbiome modulator, NM504
2014-06-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
When couples disagree on stroke recovery, one partner can suffer
2014-06-23
CINCINNATI—An innovative study from a University of Cincinnati (UC) social work researcher has found that when a stroke survivor and his or her caregiving spouse disagree on the survivor's rate of recovery, the caregiving spouse is more likely to experience depression and emotional distress.
Assistant Professor Michael McCarthy, PhD, working with co-author Karen Lyons at the Oregon Health and Science University, interviewed 35 couples in which one spouse had experienced a stroke within the past three years.
In separate sessions, stroke survivors and their spouses discussed ...
Cancer genes hijack enhancers
2014-06-23
Medulloblastoma is the most common childhood brain tumor. It is classified in four distinct subgroups that vary strongly in terns of the aggressiveness of the disease. Group 3 and Group 4 tumors, which are very challenging, are particularly common. "For these two tumor groups, hardly any characteristic genomic changes that drive tumor growth and would make potential targets for drug development have been identified," says Prof. Dr. Peter Lichter from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), who is coordinator of the PedBrain Tumor network. ...
Physicists find way to boot up quantum computers 72 times faster than previously possible
2014-06-23
Press the start button, switch on the monitor, grab a cup of coffee and off you go. That is pretty much how most us experience booting up a computer. But with a quantum computer the situation is very different. So far, researchers have had to spend hours making dozens of adjustments and fine calibrations in order to set up a chip with just five quantum bits so that it can be used for experimental work. (One quantum bit or 'qubit' is the quantum physical equivalent of a single bit in a conventional computer). Any small errors in the adjustment and calibration procedure and ...
The first demonstration of a self-powered cardiac pacemaker
2014-06-23
Daejeon, Republic of Korea, June 23, 2014--As the number of pacemakers implanted each year reaches into the millions worldwide, improving the lifespan of pacemaker batteries has been of great concern for developers and manufacturers. Currently, pacemaker batteries last seven years on average, requiring frequent replacements, which may pose patients to a potential risk involved in medical procedures.
A research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), headed by Professor Keon Jae Lee of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering ...
Have you been unlucky -- or are you just lazy?
2014-06-23
A new study from the interdisciplinary Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University examines the difference between American and Danish attitudes to welfare services. Even though the two countries are traditionally portrayed as being miles apart in this respect, the study concludes that the difference between the ways the two societies are organised is not due to fundamental differences in attitude about when the state should provide financial assistance for citizens.
"The study challenges the conventional wisdom that we Danes are more inclined to play the Good Samaritan ...
New research proves gender bias extraordinarily prevalent in STEM careers
2014-06-23
NEW YORK — With everyone from the federal government to corporate America working to encourage more women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, you would think the doors would be wide open to women of all backgrounds. A new study from Columbia Business School shows that this could not be further from the truth and that gender bias among hiring managers in STEM fields is extraordinarily prevalent.
"How Stereotypes Impair Women's Careers in Science," written by Ernesto Reuben, assistant professor of management at Columbia Business ...
We can eliminate the major tornado threat in Tornado Alley
2014-06-23
The annually recurring devastating tornado attacks in US Tornado Alley raise an important question: Can we eliminate the major tornado threat in Tornado Alley? Some people may claim that such a question is beyond imagination as people are powerless in facing violent tornadoes. However, according to Professor Rongjia Tao's recent publication in IJMPB, human beings are not powerless on this issue: if we build three east-west great walls in Tornado Alley, we will eliminate major tornado threat there forever. These walls can be built locally at high tornado risk areas to eliminate ...
Not even cell death can stop the alarm
2014-06-23
Even after a cell dies, components of the immune system remain active and continue to fuel inflammatory reactions. An international team of researchers under the direction of scientists from the Institute of Innate Immunity at the University Hospital of Bonn has discovered how this incredible form of communication works. The findings offer potentially novel approaches for therapies against many serious diseases that affect a large part of the population, such as gout, atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. The exciting new results are now published in the renowned journal ...
LED phosphors: Better red makes brighter white
2014-06-23
Chemists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have developed a novel type of red phosphor material, which significantly enhances the performance of white-emitting LEDs.
In cooperation with Dr. Peter Schmidt of Philips Technologie GmbH in Aachen, a team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schnick, who holds the Chair of Inorganic Solid-State Chemistry at LMU Munich, has developed a new material for application in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). "With its highly unusual properties, the new material has the potential to revolutionize the LED market," says ...
Magnetic fields to measure positions of ferromagnetic objects accurately
2014-06-23
Many creatures in nature, including butterflies, newts and mole rats, use the Earth's inherent magnetic field lines and field intensity variations to determine their geographical position. A research team at the University of Minnesota has shown that the inherent magnetic fields of ferromagnetic objects can be similarly exploited for accurate position measurements of these objects. Such position measurement is enabled in this research by showing that the spatial variation of magnetic field around an object can be modeled using just the geometry of the object under consideration. ...