South American Frog May Provide Treatment For Diabetes

The skin of a paradoxical frog could provide a form of treatment for people with Type 2 diabetes, new research has revealed.
Studies by researchers at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates University have found that secretions from the paradoxical frog could be used to boost insulin production in people with Type 2 diabetes .
The bright green and pink paradoxical frog, found in Trinidad and the Amazon basi, exudes a molecule called pseudin-2 that protects the animal from infection .
But the researchers claim that the substance also stimulates the release of insulin, meaning that it could provide a novel treatment for diabetes as part of a new class of natural substance-imitating medicines known as incretin mimetics.
Dr Yasser Abdel-Wahab, senior lecturer in biomedical sciences at the University of Ulster, said the promising research was “at an exciting stage”.
“We have tested a more potent synthetic version of the pseudin-2 peptide and have found that it has the potential for development into a compound for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes,” he said.
“Now we need to take this a step further and put our work into practice to help people suffering from this disease .”
However, Abdel-Wahab warned that much more work is needed before the frog therapy is at a stage where it can be tested on human patients.
Diabetes affects millions of people worldwide, with an estimated 2.3 million sufferers in the UK alone. In addition, recent reports suggest there are thousands more that have Type 2 Diabetes but are not aware of their condition.
Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of health charity Diabetes UK, explained: “Good diabetes control reduces the risk of complications, including blindness, heart disease, kidney problems and amputation, so new treatments are vital.”