• Sweet pressure: Scientists discover link

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tue Feb 1 21:30:42 2022
    Sweet pressure: Scientists discover link between high blood pressure and diabetes

    Date:
    February 1, 2022
    Source:
    University of Bristol
    Summary:
    The long-standing enigma of why so many patients suffering with
    high blood pressure (known as hypertension) also have diabetes (high
    blood sugar) has finally been cracked by an international team.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    The long-standing enigma of why so many patients suffering with high
    blood pressure (known as hypertension) also have diabetes (high blood
    sugar) has finally been cracked by an international team led by the universities of Bristol, UK, and Auckland, New Zealand.


    ==========================================================================
    The important new discovery has shown that a small protein cell
    glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) couples the body's control of blood
    sugar and blood pressure.

    Professor Julian Paton, a senior author, and Director of Manaaki
    Ma~nawa -- The Centre for Heart Research at the University of Auckland,
    said: "We've known for a long time that hypertension and diabetes are inextricably linked and have finally discovered the reason, which will now inform new treatment strategies." The research, published online ahead of print in Circulation Research today [1 February], involved contributions
    from collaborating scientists in Brazil, Germany, Lithuania, and Serbia,
    as well as the UK and New Zealand.

    GLP-1 is released from the wall of the gut after eating and acts to
    stimulate insulin from the pancreas to control blood sugar levels. This
    was known but what has now been unearthed is that GLP-1 also stimulates
    a small sensory organ called the carotid body located in the neck.

    The University of Bristol group used an unbiased, high-throughput
    genomics technique called RNA sequencing to read all the messages of
    the expressed genes in the carotid body in rats with and without high
    blood pressure. This led to the finding that the receptor that senses
    GLP-1 is located in the carotid body, but less so in hypertensive rats.



    ========================================================================== David Murphy, Professor of Experimental Medicine from Bristol Medical
    School: Translational Health Sciences (THS) and senior author, explained: "Locating the link required genetic profiling and multiple steps of
    validation. We never expected to see GLP-1 come up on the radar, so
    this is very exciting and opens many new opportunities." Professor
    Paton added: "The carotid body is the convergent point where GLP-
    1 acts to control both blood sugar and blood pressure simultaneously;
    this is coordinated by the nervous system which is instructed by the
    carotid body." People with hypertension and/or diabetes are at high
    risk of life-threatening cardiovascular disease. Even when receiving medication, a large number of patients will remain at high risk. This
    is because most medications only treat symptoms and not causes of high
    blood pressure and high sugar.

    Professor Rod Jackson, an epidemiologist from the University of Auckland,
    said "We've known that blood pressure is notoriously difficult to control
    in patients with high blood sugar, so these findings are really important because by giving GLP-1 we might be able to reduce both sugar and pressure together, and these two factors are major contributors to cardiovascular
    risk." Mr Audrys Pauža, a British Heart Foundation-funded PhD
    student in Professor David Murphy's lab in the Bristol Medical School
    and lead author on the study, added: "The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension is increasing throughout the world, and there is an urgent
    need to address this.

    "Drugs targeting the GLP-1 receptor are already approved for use in humans
    and widely used to treat diabetes. Besides helping to lower blood sugar
    these drugs also reduce blood pressure, however, the mechanism of this
    effect wasn't well understood.

    "This research revealed that these drugs may actually work on the carotid bodies to enact their anti-hypertensive effect. Leading from this work,
    we are already planning translational studies in humans to bring this
    discover into practice so that patients most at risk can receive the
    best treatment available." But GLP-1 is just the start. The research
    has revealed many novel targets for ongoing functional studies that
    the team anticipate will lead to future translational projects in human hypertensive and diabetic patients.

    The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation and the Health
    Research Council of New Zealand.

    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bristol. Note: Content
    may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Audrys G. Pauza, Pratik Thakkar, Tatjana Tasic, Igor Felippe, Paul
    Bishop, Michael P. Greenwood, Kristina Rysevaite-Kyguoliene, Julia
    Ast, Johannes Broichhagen, David J. Hodson, Helio C. Salgado,
    Dainius H.

    Pauza, Nina Japundzic-Zigon, Julian F.R. Paton, David Murphy. GLP1R
    Attenuates Sympathetic Response to High Glucose via Carotid
    Body Inhibition. Circulation Research, 2022; DOI: 10.1161/
    CIRCRESAHA.121.319874 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220201074528.htm

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