"Our study clarifies the molecular steps triggered by adenosine, which leads to inflammation linked not only to type 2 diabetes but to other inflammatory diseases," Dr. Figler said. Clinical Data has an ongoing development program in A2B receptor antagonists, he added, and is pursuing the therapeutic potential of these agents in diabetes as well as asthma. Clinical Data plans to soon begin a clinical trial for patients with asthma.
In type 2 diabetes, Dr. Linden explained, the ability of insulin to stimulate glucose uptake by the tissues is reduced, an occurrence known as insulin resistance. "Insulin's job is to move glucose out of the blood stream and into other body tissues, where it can be used," he said. "If insulin can't do its job because the body's tissues aren't responding to it sufficiently, then you end up with a buildup of sugar in the blood."
"So we asked ourselves the question," Dr. Linden continued, 'why don't the tissues respond?'"
Recently, said Dr. Linden, the scientific community has learned that type 2 diabetes is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation. "We believe, as do many scientists, that insulin resistance involves macrophages, which are cells of the body that contribute to inflammation," he explained. "We discovered that adenosine stimulates macrophages. The macrophages then release chemical
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| Contact: Bonnie Ward contact@liai.org 619-303-3160 La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology Source:Eurekalert |