Diabetic neuropathy: Food regimen excessive in amino acids reduces ache in mice

Consuming extra of the amino acids serine and glycine decreased the quantity of nerve harm and ache in mice with diabetes

Well being



25 January 2023

By Grace Wade

Dietary dietary supplements of the amino acid serine could ease diabetes-related nerve ache, in line with analysis in mice.

Almost half of individuals with diabetes have neuropathy – a situation through which nerve harm causes weak point, ache and numbness, often within the arms and ft.

Christian Metallo on the Salk Institute for Organic Research in La Jolla, California, and his colleagues measured ranges of protein-building molecules referred to as amino acids in overweight mice genetically engineered to have both kind 1 or kind 2 diabetes.

They discovered that, in contrast with mice with out both situation, these with diabetes had, on common, decrease ranges of the amino acids serine and glycine of their tissues and blood plasma. Additional evaluation steered it’s because insulin is important for stopping the breakdown of these amino acids.

The workforce then fed 10 non-diabetic mice a food regimen with out serine or glycine for a 12 months and 10 non-diabetic mice a regular food regimen. On common, the mice within the first group have been slower to retract a paw from a heated laser than these within the different group, indicating better nerve harm. When considered beneath a microscope, their paws additionally had diminished nerve fibre density, suggesting that serine and glycine deficiencies contribute to neuropathy.

A separate group of 17 mice with kind 2 diabetes ate both a serine-enriched food regimen or a regular food regimen for eight weeks, after which, these within the serine group retracted their paw from the laser about 1 second sooner, on common, than these within the management group.

These findings counsel that growing serine ranges both by way of dietary dietary supplements or focused medicine may enhance the situation, says Metallo. Nevertheless, individuals with diabetic neuropathy shouldn’t rush to seize serine dietary supplements, as extra analysis is required to ascertain a secure dosage and potential unwanted side effects, he says. The researchers additionally checked out glycine supplementation in a separate examine however haven’t revealed the outcomes but.

The findings additionally counsel we could have to rethink how we view sure vitamins. “Serine and glycine are non-essential amino acids, so we consume them in our diet, but we can also produce them within the body,” says Metallo, that means ranges are not often monitored intently. “But this highlights that the metabolism of non-essential amino acids can [also] cause defects.”

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