Blood Sugar Estimation By Laser Beam

The simple thought of finger pricking is frightening for some and when it comes to the diabetics, who need constant blood sugar monitoring at frequent interval is perhaps very scary.

Scientists from University of Toronto are working on beam of near infra-red light to estimate blood sugar without a finger prick or puncturing a vein. The device can be used in hospitals as well as in home.

The chemical bonds in sugar molecules absorbs energy as the beam of light passes through human tissue harmlessly; and this absorption is measured by the device; that can provide information about the concentration of glucose in the blood.
The scientists are stranded in a point to make sure that other things in the blood should not absorb the near-infrared.
The lead scientist Mandelis and his team used mid-infrared light, which is absorbed by glucose and not by other molecules in the blood; but with one major exception; water that makes up most of blood volume and can absorb the light.
They used 2 beams that are tuned to slightly different wavelengths:

One is absorbed by both water and glucose, the other by only water. When both beams strike dissolved glucose in concert, the water absorptions cancel each other out, giving off measurable heat that spotlights just the sugar.

So far, it’s proven sensitive even to small quantities of glucose. And the team is working with a Toronto hospital to set up tests with people.
Published in smartplanet

Targeting Liver Enzyme to Control Diabetes

Liver, the chemical factory of body, responsible for regulating many functions of body through different proteins.
One of the key functions of liver is to regulate glucose, when in excess store in form of glycogen and and during need break glycogen to glucose. These require the presence of insulin.
 Image via Wikipedia

In diabetes, this regulatory mechanism goes wrong. Scientists are struggling hard to figure it out; what exactly goes wrong in liver to pump out more glucose.
Researchers at the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified a powerful molecular pathway that regulates the liver's management of insulin and new glucose production.
The researchers studied a family of proteins called Foxhead box or FOX in mice; and identified that too much of FOX06 gives rise to signs of metabolic syndrome; characterized by increased blood sugar, insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance; which can lead to frank diabetes later on.
Blocking the protein markedly reduced liver production of glucose, although blood sugar did not completely normalize. Within two weeks of treatment, there was significant improvement in blood sugar and glucose metabolism in diabetic mice.
Tests with human liver cells echoed the importance of FOX06's role in glucose production.
It is hoped that If FOX06 activity can be inhibited that may possibly slow the liver's production of glucose in patients with diabetes and better control blood sugar levels.

Tobacco Plant may prove to be Saviour for AIDS and Diabetes Patients

An anti-HIV antibody has been produced from genetically modified tobacco plant and approved by UK regulators for first clinical trial of this kind in Europe.
The phase I trial will begin in the University of Surrey Clinical Research Centre. It is a monoclonal antibody made from the plant cells; a microbicidal cream, to be applied locally in vagina.
The active agent code named P2G12, recognizes a protein molecule on the surface of the HIV to block establishing the infection in the host.
 Tobacco Plant

The genetically modified (GM) plants will be grown in a greenhouse in Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology in Aachen, Germany.
Those will be harvested in 45 days, leaves shredded and churned to get very purified antibody in the plant cells. The process will produce 5 grams of purified protein fro 250 kilograms of tobacco.
The protein drugs could be made more efficiently and cheaply inside GM crops, since plants are extremely cost-effective protein producers. The purified product may be 10 to 100 times cost effective than the cost of production through the conventional bioreactors.
Again, this simple production technology can be transferred to other developing nations, where the drug is much needed.
Earlier, scientists had grown insulin in this type of plants. There had been much interest in the oral insulin. At present insulin for diabetics can be administered through parental route, i.e. subcutaneous and intravenous route. That is because insulin being a protein is denatured by the acidic environment of stomach, while passing by, thus becomes ineffective before being absorbed.
In the modified technology, the insulin produced in the GM plant will be in the plant cells. The cellulose wall of plant cells resist the digestion in the stomach and insulin laden cells can pass to the intestine, from where it can be absorbed after digestion of cellulose wall there.
There are much hope for the future treatment modalities of HIV/AIDS and diabetes.
However, the results of the final trial will tell the future of the drug.

DIABETES MELLITUS TYPE 2 /ORAL HYPOGLYCEMIC AGENTS

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is often treated with drugs called oral hypoglycemic agents.There are vast number of drugs in this category.After taking the medications the blood glucose level is to be checked again to see that glucose level normalises in blood.When it normalises and newly diagnosed diabetics often think that they have been cured of diabetes and discontinue the drugs.In a number of occassions I have seen this.Also sometimes as to-day some patients come to ask whether to continue the drugs. So the fact is that the normal blood glucose we see is as a result of effect of drugs those continued,not without the drugs. So how can we discontinue the drugs? Of course after taking other measures like weight reduction in obese and life style changes sometimes one may not need it. But that should be monitored by doctor to see if it is possible to discontinue the medications.That to repeated blood glucose estimations should be done.http://www.drppanda.wordpress.com