Sea snail venom used to create a new type of insulin that could provide a 'safer and more effective' treatment for type-1 diabetes

[Northerner]

Insulin developed from the venom of a predatory sea snail could be used to create a 'safer and more effective' diabetes treatment, researchers claim.

It mimics the ultra-fast-acting properties of the sea snail venom to lower blood sugar levels, without long-term side effects seen in other types of diabetes treatment.

University of Utah scientists developed what they call the world's smallest, fully functional version of the insulin hormone from the venom.

They say the findings, based on animal studies, could jumpstart the development of insulin treatments capable of improving the lives of those with diabetes.

Sea snail venom used to create a new type of insulin to treat diabetes

The new insulin mimics the ultra-fast-acting properties of the sea snail venom to lower blood sugar levels, without long-term side effects seen in other types of diabetes treatment.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Robin]

Eek! I didn’t know sea snails were venomous in the first place!

 

[Northerner]

This sort of story reminds me of the story of Hans Christian Hagedorn 😱 Maybe I should flex my poetry muscles again 🙂


The Tales of Hans Christian Hagedorn


The history of diabetes and insulin throws up some rather remarkable and unlikely things. When first discovered and administered in the early 1920’s, insulin was seen as a new miracle cure for those condemned to death from diabetes. Not a cure, of course, but a radical new treatment that saw comatose patients rising from their beds and able once more to live their lives with some semblance of normality.

One of the problems with the insulin in those early days, however, was that it worked too quickly in the body to match the digestion rate, resulting in post prandial hyperglycaemia more often, but also sometimes hypoglycaemia by reducing blood glucose levels before food could begin digesting. What was needed was a way to slow the action of the insulin. In 1936 a solution was discovered which, at first glance to the non-scientifically schooled, might appear bizarre to say the least. The idea was to mix the insulin with fish sperm or, more precisely, the protamine obtained from fish sperm – initially taken from river trout. This remarkable breakthrough was discovered by Hans Christian Hagedorn of the Danish Nordisk company and became a fundamental treatment for diabetes in the form of NPH (Neutral Protamine Hagedorn) insulin for many decades to follow. Now, fish sperm is no longer used, but a synthetic protamine is added to the genetically engineered insulins…

Once there was a village on a cliff beside the sea
Where there lived a little boy and girl, as cute as cute can be!
And their parents – how they loved them! It was plain for all to see,
As they watched them play and squeal and sing around the cherry tree!

But one dark day the demon came to strike them in the night,
The children shook, their eyes were wild, it was an awful sight!
The parents called the doctor in to do what e’er he might,
And village elders rallied round to aid the parents plight!

There lived a wise man in a cave that bordered on the shore,
So word was sent to seek him out and learn the ancient lore,
For would a balm of potent herbs the children’s health restore?
The parents feared that they would see their children play no more…

The wise man came and saw at once their glucose had gone low…
He rubbed molasses in their cheeks, and as he turned to go
Declared it was their insulin that struck the children so –
It worked too fast! There must be found some way to make it slow!

‘You must go out and seek a trout, that pretty river fish,
And squeeze it dry of semen and collect it in a dish,
Then mix it with the insulin, and you shall have your wish
For it will work with far less haste, and naught shall come amiss!’

A trout was caught, its gonads squeezed as they hung it from the rafter,
Then insulin was all mixed in – a daily task thereafter,
And soon the village rang again with peals of children’s laughter!
Thus ends the tale, as good tales do, in happy ever after!

(c) Northerner 2009

 

[Inka]

Eek! I didn’t know sea snails were venomous in the first place!

Me neither! I was just sitting here sniggering about the idea of the venomous snail (“Watch out else i’ll slime you!”) when I suddenly remembered a recentish tv show I watched where a poisonous snail was a suspect in the murder 😱 Annoyingly, I’ve been racking my brains to try to remember what the show was, so if anyone knows, please say!

 

[Northerner]

Me neither! I was just sitting here sniggering about the idea of the venomous snail (“Watch out else i’ll slime you!”) when I suddenly remembered a recentish tv show I watched where a poisonous snail was a suspect in the murder 😱 Annoyingly, I’ve been racking my brains to try to remember what the show was, so if anyone knows, please say!

Well, on the subject of snails (or rather, slugs), there are some particular concerns for diabetics 😱 I wrote the following


Hyper Slugs


It’s a little known fact that diabetics need to keep their distance from slugs. I read recently on the forum about a poor lady who chanced upon a slug that had crawled onto her cooker during the night and so distressed her that her blood sugar levels shot up and stayed high for several hours afterwards. I can only speculate that there is some form of chemical message that is given off by the noxious slime they leave in their wake, stimulating stress hormones in humans, and raising blood sugar levels.

Caution should therefore be observed when these creatures are in the vicinity, and the age-old defences of salt and beer should be administered immediately on sight, before any harm is done…

It may befall you, late at night, to wander through the house,
But be beware of things that lurk, like spider, slug or mouse!
What’s that you say? A mouse is known to scurry through the gloom,
And spiders too may weave their webs in corners of the room…
But slugs? You speak in jest my friend! What fears do they inspire?
They’ll hardly leap from out the murk, or breathe on you with fire!

But slugs have powers little known – the slime that they exude
Can raise the sugars in the blood, playing havoc with your mood!
Emitting powerful pheromones, they signal to your brain
To flood your blood with cortisol, until the slug is slain!
So arm yourself with salt and beer, to keep the beasts at bay!
And slay the ghastly gastropods – dispatch them on their way! 😱

(C) Northerner 2010

 

[Inka]

Hahaha - brilliant @Northerner ! Love it!

I’m off to arm myself with salt and beer pronto

And if lockdown and copious amounts of chocolate have put a few points on my HbA1C, I’m blaming the molluscs😉 I don’t think my DSN can argue with that!