What do we know about diabetes?
• There are two types of diabetes type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes
• Diabetes causes blood sugar to become too high
• Untreated diabetes can cause serious complications
• In 2010 there were 3.1 million people with diabetes. 15% have type 1
diabetes and around 85% have type 2.
• How many people have each type of diabetes?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOowX3OwFuk
• Type 1 diabetes3.1 million ÷100 = 0.031 million
(<- this is 1%)
0.031million x 15 =
(x by 15 to get 15%)
0.465 million or 465,000- ALMOST HALF A MILLION
• Type 2 diabetes –
3.1 million ÷100 = 0.031 million
0.031 million x 85 =
2.635 million or 2,635,000
(<- this is 1%)
(x by 85 to get 85%)
• And research predicts these numbers are rising rapidly.
How diabetes is treated
Type 1 Diabetes
• Onset can be fast
• Most diagnosed when young
• Insulin dependant – these
patients require insulin
injections to maintain normal
blood sugar
Type 2 Diabetes
• Onset is slower
• Mainly in older and obese
people
• Can be managed with diet and
exercise.
There are problems with using insulin injections as a
treatment for type 1 diabetes? Could you think of any?
- Inconvenient
- Treatment not a cure
- Not a continuous supply, the body naturally releases insulin in
exactly the right amounts when it is required
What do scientists measure to see if their
diabetes experiments have worked?
• This test is the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)
• The test measures changes in blood glucose levels after a controlled
amount of glucose has been eaten (called a glucose load).
• The patient must fast (not eat any food) for 12 hours before the test
• Blood sugar is measured at 30 minute intervals for 2 hours
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMMpeLLgdgY
The data provided is based on human results of the OGTT.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) say a person without diabetes
should have:
• Fasting value (before test): under 6.1 mM and normal values are
from 3.9 to 5.5 mM
• At 2 hours: under 7.8 mM
Are any of the data sets in this group diabetic?
Blood Glucose (mM)
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test OGTT
0
30
Time (minutes)
60
90
120
Can you label each point on your graph to
show what might be happening?
Oral Glucose Tolerance test in 4 humans
13
12
11
10
9
8
Blood Glucose (mM)
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
30
60
Person 1
Person 2
90
Person3
Time (minutes)
Person 4
120
Scientists are looking for a cure
• Stem Cells – cells with the ability to turn into any cells in the body.
• Using stem cells scientists are trying to make pancreas cells which
can be transplanted into diabetic patients.
• In the end this could offer a cure
Gao et al. 2014
Things are not always as
straight forward as they
seem in the world of
science.
To compare these graphs
we need to convert the
units.
To convert
from mg/dl
to mM we
must
times by
0.0555
Raikwar, S. P. and Zavazava, N. (2011).
Things are not always as
straight forward as they
seem in the world of
science.
To convert
from mg/dl
to mM we
To compare these graphs
must
we need to convert times
the by
0.0555
units.
Raikwar and Zavazava (2011)
Time
Blood Glucose mg/dl
Blood Glucose mM
0
100
5.55
30
210
11.65
60
175
9.71
90
110
6.10
120
115
6.38
Time
Blood Glucose mg/dl
Blood Glucose mM
0
390
21.64
30
710
39.40
60
825
45.79
90
900
49.95
120
1000
55.5
Time
Blood Glucose mg/dl
Blood Glucose mM
0
200
11.1
30
310
17.2
60
350
19.42
90
210
11.66
120
195
10.82
OGTT in mice
60
55
50
Compare this graph
to the one you have
produced for a
human OGTT
45
Blood Glucose (mM)
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
30
60
90
Time (minutes)
Control
Diabetic
Treated
120
OGTT in mice
Oral Glucose Tolerance test in 4 humans
60
13
55
12
50
11
45
40
9
Blood Glucose (mM)
Blood Glucose (mM)
10
8
7
6
35
30
25
5
20
4
15
3
10
2
5
1
0
0
30
60
90
Time (minutes)
0
0
30
Person 1
60
Person 2
Time (minutes)
90
Person3
Person 4
120
Control
Diabetic
Treated
120
OGTT in mice
60
55
50
45
Blood Glucose (mM)
40
35
Are there many similarities?
What are the differences?
30
25
20
Could you think of any reasons for
these differences?
15
10
5
0
0
30
60
90
Time (minutes)
Control
Diabetic
Treated
120
What are the benefits of using mice models?
What are the drawbacks of using a mouse model to experiment on
human disease?
References
• Raikwar, S. P. and Zavazava, N. (2011). Spontaneous in vivo
differentiation of embryonic stem cell-derived pancreatic endodermlike cells corrects hyperglycemia in diabetic
mice. Transplantation 91:11.
• Gao, X., Song, L., Shen, K., Wang, H., Niu, W., Qin, X. and Qian, M.
(2014). Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells promote the repair of
islets from diabetic mice through paracrine actions. Molecular and
Cellular Endocrinology 388:41-50.
• World Health Organisation. www.who.int/
http://www.who.int/diabetes/action_online/basics/en/index1.html
Oral Glucose Tolerance test in 4 humans
13
12
11
10
9
8
Blood Glucose (mM)
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
30
60
Person 1
Person 2
90
Person3
Time (minutes)
Person 4
120