(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-25 16:29

WASHINGTON - Research at the University of Haifa in Israel has discovered a substance that may become an oral treatment for diabetes and its complications, US media reported on Monday.

The substance, which is derived from yeast, is called Glucose Tolerance Factor (GTF). The research is now at the stage where the substance has been successfully tested on diabetic rats and was found to reduce sugar and lipids in the blood of the treated animals.

"The next stage of the research is to evaluate GTF efficacy in humans," said Nitsa Mirsky, lead researcher.

Diabetics suffer from lack of insulin or a deficiency in the body's ability to respond to insulin. It is a chronic illness with no cure and can lead to kidney failure, heart problems, strokes or blindness, as well as other complications.

Approximately 50 percent of diabetics are treated with insulin, which has to be injected, while the rest are treated with oral medications which tend to be more difficult to regulate and often have side effects.

The study by Mirsky's research team indicate that GTF acts similarly to insulin in the rats, lowering the level of glucose, and of LDL-cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol), and raising the level of HDL-cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol).

GTF can also inhibit oxidation processes that can cause atherosclerosis and result in further complications of the disease like strokes and heart attacks.

Moreover, when GTF is given at early stage of the disease, it could prevent or delay renal complications. GTF also helped to prevent cataracts and retinal damage.

It was also found that GTF improves the effectiveness of injected insulin. Further research is needed in order to find a combined regimen of insulin and GTF as a potential treatment for diabetes, said the researchers.