Malfunctioning bone marrow cells sabotage nerve cells in diabetes
Malfunctioning bone marrow cells that produce insulin appear to cause a dangerous nerve condition called neuropathy that disables many people with diabetes, said a research team led by Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
(I-Newswire) - The report from researchers at BCM, Shiga University of Medical Science in Japan, and the University of Chicago appears online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The finding not only provides a basis for understanding the dangerous nerve condition in diabetics, but could eventually lead to a treatment for this problem, said Dr. Lawrence Chan, chief of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism at BCM. It may even provide an explanation for some of the other complications associated with the disease.
"These insulin-producing bone marrow cells are like terrorists that infiltrate the nerve-cell populations," he said. They produce proteins that can kill or subvert the purposes of nerve cells "almost like a suicide bomb," said Chan.
Diabetes mellitus, which afflicts roughly 18 million Americans, is a major health problem that affects multiple organs and tissues. Diabetes can be treated. However, treatment does not ward off many of the complications. Neuropathy is a common complication that causes pain and ultimately loss of sensation in the extremities and can lead to amputation.
Previously, Chan and members of his laboratory had found that bone marrow cells were among a group of cells in organs other than the pancreas that unexpectedly produced small amounts of insulin. In pursuing that finding, he and his colleagues found that the bone marrow cells that produced insulin adversely affected nerve cells or neurons.
"In our latest studies, we were surprised to discover that insulin-producing cells originating from bone marrow caused premature cell death and dysfunction when they merged with neurons, resulting in neuropathy," said Chan.
"It all began several years ago, when we were developing gene therapy to cure diabetes in mice. By chance, we observed insulin-producing bone marrow cells outside the pancreas, and wondered why these cells were migrating to other organs and whether they were detrimental or beneficial," said Chan.
In pursuit of this curious phenomenon, Drs. Tomoya Terashima and Hideto Kojima from BCM and Dr. Mineko Fujimiya of Shiga University of Medical Science in Shiga, Japan, in collaboration with Chan, performed numerous experiments in diabetic rats and mice. Their work defined the role of the aberrant cells in causing neuropathy.
They found that, in diabetes, only nerve cells that have fused with bone marrow cells display the abnormal function and premature death found in neuropathy. Nerve cells that have not merged with the insulin-producing bone marrow cells remain intact and function normally.
"Based on these findings, we speculate that a similar process contributes to some, if not all, of the other chronic complications of diabetes, and we look forward to pursuing this possibility. Discovering an underlying cause of diabetic neuropathy may enable us to design treatment strategies to prevent this complication in the future," concluded Chan.
Support for this project comes from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
If you have questions regarding information in this press release contact the company listed below. I-Newswire.com is a press release service and not the author of this press release. The information that is on or available through this site is for informational purposes only and speaks only as of the particular date or dates of that information. As some companies / PR Agencies submit their press releases once per week/month or quarter, make sure check the official company website for accurate release dates as our site displays the I-Newswire.com distribution date only. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of information on or available through this site, and we are not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in that information or for actions taken in reliance on that information.
Immerse yourself in mystery and magic with two exciting new casual games from Focus Multimedia and Big Fish Games Studios, one of the world’s leading casual game developers. Hidden Expedition Titanic and Azada join Focus’ popular Revival range of super-budget price games and are available in a store near you.
Edraw Max enables students, teachers and business professionals to reliably create and publish kinds of diagrams to represent any ideas. With large pre-drawn libraries and more than 4600 vector symbols, drawing couldn't be easier!
New range of cards launched to make you the cover star.Hallmark Cards in partnership with OK Magazine has launched an exclusive and exciting new range of greeting cards that gives people the chance to give family and friends the A-List treatment.
Many people choose not to pursue an accident claim. The reasons range from knowing the insurance company will settle; to they don't want the legal hassles and expense.
Many individuals and businesses have always purchased their personal computers from a well-known provider to pre-conceived specifications. Increasingly...
The effectiveness of SEO and PPC Services are directly related to the quality and quantity of the performance data that they have to work with. If you are seeking assistance in achieving a higher ranking on search engine results, then we suggest you visit RankYourWebsites.com, specialist in this area. If you have found your attempts at optimization to prove fruitless, the representatives at RankYourWebsites.com will have a solution to increase your traffic.
http://www.vineyardsforsalein.com/ - online island vineyard for sale, vineyard for sale paso, texas vineyard for sale, washington vineyard for sale, tuscany vineyard for sale, vineyard for sale santa, vineyard for sale California
Mark Flanagan, Managing Director of Manchester health and safety, food safety and fire safety consultancy, Shieldyourself, discussed the Scores on the Doors scheme when he made a guest appearance on the BBC’s 5 Live Radio Show recently.
