Insulin is responsible for the glucose that reaches the bloodstream through food to enter the liver, muscles and tissues, which are its means to store energy.It is naturally produced by the beta cells of the pancreas.
However, this hormone can be affected its functionality by the increase in blood lipidinsulin polymerization.
A group of scientists from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) arrived at this conclusion, which proved the existence of polymers in insulin that foster their oxidation in overweight people and before what will design a quantitative method to be able to detect it.
Dr. Ivonne María Olivares Corichi, a researcher at the IPN Higher School of Medicine, commented that scientific literature reports the presence of oxidative stress in patients with obesity and diabetes, but the participation of a modified insulin had not been evidenced.That is why the scientific study was recognized with the 2016 Research Award for this academic institution.
The director of the award -winning project explained that when insulin oxidizes its chemical structure, it transforms into polymers and the receiver in charge of detecting the hormone does not recognize its new condition, so it cannot fulfill the function of giving the signal forthat glucose can be used by cells dependent on it (adipocytes, hepatocytes and muscle, mainly).
As part of the research, a clinical study was conducted with the participation of 100 healthy people as a control group, 60 diabetics and 70 with obesity, from the “La Raza” National Medical Center, from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), of the HospitalGeneral of Mexico “Dr.Eduardo Liceaga ”and the ESM Obesity Clinic.
The results determined that the oxidation of the hormone does not occur in healthy people, while in diabetics and obese that condition is presented as a consequence of oxidative stress, because when it comes into contact with free radicals and reactive oxygen species, insulin, insulinIt is transformed to a more complex chemical structure, so it loses its function.
The next step will be to develop a quantitative method to detect oxidized insulin from the presence of a polyclonal antibody.This method will also allow to monitor closely to obese patients and apply preventive strategies to avoid insulin resistance and diabetes, it will also allow closely monitoring those who already suffer from this condition.
Until now, Polytechnic researchers worked in the laboratory with mice, which was injected with oxidized insulin to see its hypoglycemic effect, which was diminished due to the formation of a polymer consisting of several insulins that bind to each other.
“With this tool we can determine the real concentration of polymerized insulin that circulates in patients;However, this is the beginning to propose to oxidized insulin as a biomarker of resistance to the same hormone, ”said Dr. Olivares Corichi.