Researchers suggest Vitamin D therapy can tackle diabetes, cancer
New York, May 13: Enhanced activation of Vitamin D by protecting beta cells may be a potential new approach for treating diabetes as well as other diseases, including cancer, researchers have suggested.
When beta cells -- the cells in the pancreas that produce, store and release the hormone insulin -- become dysfunctional, the body cannot make insulin to control blood sugar (glucose) and levels of glucose can rise to dangerous and even fatal levels.
The researchers found that Vitamin D in cells and mouse models can be beneficial in treating these damaged beta cells.
They also provided new insights about gene regulation that could be applied to developing treatments for other diseases, including cancer.
"We know that diabetes is a disease caused by inflammation. We identified the Vitamin D receptor as an important modulator of both inflammation and beta cell survival," said Ronald Evans, from Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, US.
Using beta cells created from embryonic stem cells, the team was able to identify a compound -- iBRD9 -- that appeared to enhance the activation of the Vitamin D receptor when it was combined with Vitamin D to improve the survival of beta cells.
In the paper, published in the journal Cell, the team conducted a screening test to look for compounds that improved the survival of beta cells in a dish. They then tested the combination in a mouse model of diabetes and showed that it could bring glucose back to normal levels in the animals.
Combining the new compound with vitamin D allowed certain protective genes to be expressed at much higher levels than they are in diseased cells.
"Activating the vitamin D receptor can trigger the anti-inflammatory function of genes to help cells survive under stressed conditions," explained Michael Downes, from the institute.
The researchers noted that although the new compound did not appear to cause any side effects in the mice, further testing is needed before clinical trials can begin.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Maha Vikas Aghadi a vehicle sans wheels and brakes: PM Modi
Dhule (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra is a vehicle that has neither wheels nor brakes, and there is a fight there to sit on the driver's seat.
Addressing his first rally in the state for the November 20 assembly elections, Modi said only the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance will ensure speedy development of Maharashtra.
“You all know my affinity with Maharashtra,” Modi said.
“We consider people as another form of god, but some people are in politics to loot people,” Modi said, addressing the rally in north Maharashtra’s Dhule district.
Modi said that whenever he has asked for something from the people of Maharashtra, they have given him their blessings wholeheartedly.
“I assure you that the pace at which Maharashtra's development has gained in the last two-and-a-half years will not be allowed to stop,” Modi said.
The prime minister said that only the BJP-led Mahayuti government can provide the good governance that Maharashtra needs.
The Congress was in power simultaneously at Centre and in Maharashtra but never felt the need for Marathi to be given the status of classical language, Modi said.
“A dangerous game of pitting one caste against another is being played by the Congress as that party can never see Dalits, backward classes and tribals progressing,” Modi said.
