If you are a mouse with human pancreatic islet cells in your body, taking a common drug for high blood pressure appears to reverse the diabetes-related death of those islet cells, which is good news for mice involved in diabetes research.
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| Dr. Anath Shalev, director of the University
of Alabama Birmingham Comprehensive Diabetes Center |
The research team led by Dr. Anath Shalev, director of the University of Alabama Birmingham Comprehensive Diabetes Center, have found that the drug verapamil, which belongs to the family of high blood pressure medicines called calcium channel blockers, slows the progression of type 1 or 2 diabetes, at least in mice. But the authors think it may have clinical application in humans with diabetes, particularly since the drug is already FDA approved for high blood pressure. Their study appears in the March 22 issue of the journal Diabetes. (Published site)
