Compound in dairy products targets diabetes

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Public release date: 3-Aug-2006

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/ps-cid080306.php

Contact: Amitabh Avasthi

axa47@...

Penn State

Compound in dairy products targets diabetes

Fatty acids commonly found in dairy products have successfully treated

diabetes in mice, according to a researcher at Penn State. The

compounds, known as conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), have also shown

promising results in human trials, signaling a new way of potentially

treating the disease without synthetic drugs.

" The compounds are predominantly found in dairy products such as milk,

cheese and meat, and are formed by bacteria in ruminants that take

linoleic acids – fatty acids from plants – and convert them into

conjugated linoleic acids, or CLA, " says Jack Vanden Heuvel, professor

of molecular toxicology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences

and co-director of Penn State's Center of Excellence in Nutrigenomics.

Researchers first became interested in CLA when it was shown to inhibit

a variety of cancers such as breast, skin and colon in mice, and further

research showed effects on circulating cholesterol and inflammation.

These effects are the same as the newest generation of synthetic drugs

used to treat diabetes in humans.

These synthetic drugs act by triggering a set of nuclear receptors

called PPAR. In addition to being targets for a variety of clinically

effective drugs, PPARs belong to a large family of proteins, and their

biological purpose is to sense fatty acids and fatty acid metabolites

within the cell, says Vanden Heuvel.

When the synthetic drugs interact with these protein receptors, it turns

the receptor " on, " making it an active form of the protein, which then

interacts with DNA and regulates gene expression. This increases the

enzymes that process fatty acids and also increases the tissues'

sensitivity to insulin.

" We wondered if CLA was using the same mechanism, in which case it could

be used as an anti-diabetes drug, " Vanden Heuvel says.

To test the idea, he used CLA on mice prone to adult onset (Type-2)

diabetes. Results indicated that the mice had an improvement in insulin

action, and a decrease in circulating glucose. Also, the mechanism was

indeed similar to that of the drugs.

" Anti-diabetes drugs act the same way. They mimic the natural activators

of the receptors by getting into the cell and interacting with the PPARs

to regulate glucose and fat metabolism, " says Vanden Heuvel.

Early human trials indicate that when administered for longer than 8

weeks, CLA improves the body's misregulation of insulin and lowers the

level of glucose in the blood in patients with adult onset, or Type-2

diabetes, the most common form of this disease.

However, Vanden Heuvel cautions that while having a diet that is high in

dairy and meat products, and thereby CLA, might have a health benefit,

one must also be aware of other lipids present in these products, such

as trans fatty acids. Instead, he suggests that in addition to a

well-balanced diet, it is advantageous to incorporate CLA as a dietary

supplement, or to seek out new products that enrich foods such as

butter, margarine and ice cream with CLA.

" Adult-onset diabetes is fast becoming an epidemic and is largely

associated with poor diet and nutrition and other lifestyle issues, "

Vanden Heuvel says. The reason for the increase in diabetes may have to

do with the ratio of so-called " good " and " bad " fats, with the average

American diet containing too much of the " bad " fats. CLA, whose effect

is very similar to fish oil, a source of " good " fat, could prove

beneficial against Type-2 diabetes.

" And compared to the synthetic drugs used to treated this disease, CLA

does not cause weight gain and may in fact decrease overall body fat, "

says Vanden Heuvel, who has been granted a patent on the new method of

treating diabetes with CLA.

##

Other researchers on the patent include Martha Belury, Ohio State

University, and Louise Peck, University of Washington, for the work

initially conducted at Purdue University.

The Penn State Center of Excellence in Nutrigenomics is at

http://nutrigenomics.psu.edu/.

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