WCMC Q metabolism study advances diabetes knowledge

8/31/2015 8:55:38 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula)Dr Karsten Suhre Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and Dr Noha AbdelRahman Yousri Postdoctoral Associate in Physiology and Biophysics.

Doha: Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) researchers have made new discoveries about effects of type-2 diabetes on human metabolism and developed a holistic understanding of biochemical changes associated with the disease.

They cross-referenced observations of blood urine and saliva samples of diabetics with those of healthy individuals to characterise abnormal blood sugar levels across different time scales varying from six-12 hours up to two-three months.

Previous studies have examined three sample types separately but the WCMC-Q team found that they could learn more about diabetes by interpreting them together to give what they call a “systems view” of the disease.

The research is based on the analysis of metabolites — substances produced by biochemical processes in the body and can be found in biofluids such as blood urine and saliva.

For many years medical science has known that metabolites are associated with diabetes. By extending the scope of the study to multiple body fluids the researchers identified new diabetes-associated metabolites.

The WCMC-Q scientists used research data to create a comprehensive “map” of the complex network of metabolic reactions underlying type-2 diabetes. This will serve as a reference tool for researchers as they try to develop new biomarkers for early detection of diabetes and more effective therapies to treat the disease.

Dr Karsten Suhre Professor of Physiology and Biophysics led the research. He said: “The metabolites in each type of sample tell us different stories about biological processes happening in various parts of the body and over different time scales. By analysing three sample types together we improved our understanding of interactions between organs and tissues in the development and progression of diabetes.

The study in collaboration with physicians at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) analysed samples from 188 diabetics and 181 control patients of Arabic and Asian descent.

The paper describing the research entitled ‘A systems view of type-2 diabetes-associated metabolic perturbations in saliva blood and urine and different timescales of glycaemic control’ has been published in Diabetologia a leading journal on diabetes.

Dr Noha AbdelRahman Yousri Postdoctoral Associate in Physiology and Biophysics led the analysis.

THE PENINSULA

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