Nitric oxide and diabetes
Mechanisms underlying the regulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthesis by glucose and insulin.
- Dr Ian Salt of the University of Glasgow
- £127,858; Two-year project grant
- October 2012 – September 2014
Background to project
Blood vessel problems are a leading complication and cause of death among people with diabetes. Accordingly, there is a great need to understand why people with diabetes develop such complications and to find new targets for therapies to reverse them or limit their severity.
Production of nitric oxide, a molecule that helps to keep blood vessels healthy, is reduced in people with diabetes due to high levels of glucose or insulin circulating in the blood. However, the exact details of this process are poorly understood.
Project aims
Using laboratory experiments on human cells, which mimic the high glucose and insulin levels seen in diabetes, Dr Ian Salt at the University of Glasgow will attempt to identify the mechanisms that lead to impaired production of nitric oxide.
Potential benefit to people with diabetes
If the mechanisms that lead to impaired nitric oxide production can be clarified, researchers might be able to identify new targets for potential treatments to limit or reverse the blood vessel complications of diabetes.