Diabetes News January 6th 2012

Food Insecurity and Glycemic Control Among Low-Income Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
Food insecurity is an independent risk factor for poor glycemic control in the safety net setting. Screening patients with diabetes for food insecurity may be appropriate, particularly in the safety net setting (Diabetes Care)

A Study of Patients’ Perceptions of Diabetes Care Delivery and Diabetes
Group treatment reinforces communication and peer identification and may achieve its clinical results by promoting awareness, self-efficacy, positive attitudes toward diabetes and the setting of care, an internal locus of control, and, ultimately, empowerment in the patients (Diabetes Care)

Increased Retinal Blood Flow Velocity in Patients With Early Diabetes Mellitus
There was an increase in arterial and venous retinal blood flow velocities of patients with early DM with no diabetic retinopathy. These findings support the notion that abnormalities in vessel function exist in diabetic eyes before the development of structural changes (Retina)

Beta-Cell Specific Deletion of Dicer1 Leads to Defective Insulin Secretion and Diabetes Mellitus
ß-cell specific disruption of the miRNAs network, although allowing for apparently normal ß-cell development, leads to progressive impairment of insulin secretion, glucose homeostasis and diabetes development (PLoS ONE)

Glucagon in the Pathogenesis of Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia in Diabetes
In type 1 diabetes and advanced type 2 diabetes, the absence of an increment in glucagon secretion, in the setting of an absent decrement in insulin secretion and an attenuated increment in sympathoadrenal activity, in response to falling plasma glucose concentrations plays a key role in the pathogenesis of iatrogenic hypoglycemia. In addition, there is increasing evidence that, in the aggregate, suggests that relative hyperglucagonemia, in the setting of deficient insulin secretion, plays a role in the pathogenesis of hyperglycemia in diabetes (Endocrinology)

Heparan sulfate and heparanase play key roles in mouse ß cell survival and autoimmune diabetes
Our results identified HS as a critical molecular requirement for islet ß cell survival and HS degradation as a mechanism for ß cell destruction. Our findings suggest that preservation of islet HS could be a therapeutic strategy for preventing T1D (Journal of Clinical Investigation)

Cancer mortality reduction and metformin: a retrospective cohort study in type 2 diabetic patients
Metformin users showed a lower risk of cancer-related mortality than not users or patients on diet only; this may represent another reason to choose metformin as a first-line therapy in T2DP (Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism)

Osiris Therapeutics Provides Update on Groundbreaking Stem Cell Trial for Type 1 Diabetes
The interim assessment at one year showed that systemic infusions of Prochymal were well-tolerated in this unique population … No significant differences in the rates of disease progression have been observed … however there was a trend towards fewer hypoglycemic events for patients treated with Prochymal as compared to controls (Osiris Therapeutics)