Take a look at:
http://www.the-scientist.com/yr1999/sep ... 90927.html
NEW TREATMENT FOR DIABETES II?
A chemical in the saliva of the Gila monster Heloderma suspectum that helps digest gigantic meals may provide a new treatment for type II diabetes mellitus. The Gila monster is one of only two venomous lizards and hails from the Phoenix, Ariz., area, coincidentally the home of the Pima Indians, who have the world's highest incidence of type II diabetes." John Eng, a physician at the [Veterans Administration] Hospital in The Bronx, and his collaborators fished out peptides that they believed were part of the venom.
Some of the peptides looked similar to the human hormone family that includes secretin, glucagon, and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1)," reports Andrew Young, vice president of research at Amylin Pharmaceuticals in San Diego. One peptide, exendin, had 50 percent homology with human GLP-1, known to have properties that could be useful in treating diabetes: stimulating insulin secretion, dampening appetite, slowing stomach emptying, and decreasing secretion of glucagon, the hormone that counters insulin action. But the human hormone has a vanishingly short half-life of mere minutes. Rather than trying to circumvent this limitation by synthesizing GLP-1 analogs resistant to degradation or by disabling the enzyme that breaks it down, Amylin is testing a 39-amino-acid synthetic peptide based on the Gila monster's peptide. The lizard produces exendin in addition to GLP-1, which it secretes in its gut, as humans do. Since exendin appears in the saliva shortly after the animal's
thrice-yearly meal of various eggs and nestlings, it must aid digestion, rather than be part of the venom. "When they eat, they gorge, so they have to store nutrients. They do this in their tails, which can swell fourfold in volume. The lizard can go a year without eating. To store nutrients, it needs insulin. We don't know if exendin does the same thing in the Gila monster as it does in mammals, but it makes sense that it would provide insulin secretion and decrease appetite," says Young. Preclinical tests indicate that exendin is potent in tiny doses and deliverable across the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, or lungs. Phase II clinical trials suggest that it is safe.
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