Protein Found Key Factors for Diabetes Pregnant Women

Protein in the pancreas may be an impact to the mechanism for gestational diabetes or commonly known as diabetes in pregnant women, according to U.S. researchers said Saturday.

Researchers at Stanford University discovered a protein, which is Merrin who can act as a brake for the pancreas to control the production of cells needed to produce insulin which helps the body convert sugar into energy.

Pregnant mice with the way genetic engineering to produce Merrin made too much that he could not make the cells that make insulin and conditioned as a people with diabetes during pregnancy.

We feel the results of our research has opened a number of possibilities including the possibility to find out how to type 3 diabetes or diabetes during pregnancy and type 2 diabetes is diabetes that occurs in adulthood may occur, "said Kim Dr.Seung a professor of the Department of Development Biology at Stanford University who writes that his research in the journal Science.

Gestational diabetes or diabetes that occurs in a woman with diabetes who are not yet at the time she was pregnant body can not make and use insulin as needed so that excess sugar in the body.

In the United States there are 135 thousand cases of pregnant women with diabetes that can lead to the birth of deformed babies, and diabetes can reduce the child was conceived.

Other researchers, researchers have found that the hormone prolactin, was found during pregnancy, triggers the production of insulin or the cells that produce insulin during pregnancy.

Mechanism that is behind this process remains unclear, but Kim and his colleagues argue Merrin play an important role.

Merrin protein itself has shown its role in preventing pancreatic cancer in the gland by blocking cell growth.

At the time Kim and fellow research team gave prolactin to nonpregnant mice, the level Merrin and pancreas decrease in size increases, a similar condition as the condition of pregnancy.

Kim and colleagues argue colleagues lowered prolactin levels during pregnancy the amount Merrin, so that the body is conditioned to produce cells that produce insulin to support fetal growth.

"We conclude that the conditions for the occurrence of gestational diabetes which occurs where the inability of cells to produce insulin in response to growth signals such as prolactin," Kim commented.

He said the findings were further tested haruis but if it is proved true it would pave the way for a new test to predict the possibility of a diabetic woman during pregnancy.

It also would open the way to stimulate the cells that produce insulin in diabetics who do not have the number of cells that produce insulin in sufficient quantities so as to produce these cells the body needs, so stated Kim.

Source: Media-indonesia.com