Low oxygen linked to lower blood sugar could point to new diabetes treatments

Researchers report that low-oxygen conditions make red blood cells take up more glucose, lowering blood sugar in mice, and that a drug called HypoxyStat reproduced this effect and normalized high blood sugar in diabetic mice.

Researchers reported laboratory findings that link low-oxygen conditions to reduced blood sugar and outline a separate study on brain cells and exercise endurance. The low-oxygen work was prompted by observations that diabetes is less common at high altitudes. In mice, low-oxygen exposure led red blood cells to shift metabolism and take up more glucose. The researchers also tested a drug, HypoxyStat, that mimics low-oxygen effects and reversed high blood sugar in diabetic mice. Key findings: - People living at high altitudes tend to have lower rates of diabetes, a pattern cited by the researchers. - In low-oxygen conditions, red blood cells increased their glucose uptake and acted as "glucose sinks," lowering blood glucose in mice. - Mice breathing low-oxygen air showed rapid disappearance of blood sugar after feeding, which the team traced to red blood cells rather than muscle, brain or liver. - The experimental drug HypoxyStat, designed to make hemoglobin bind oxygen more tightly, reportedly normalized high blood sugar in diabetic mice and was said to work better than existing medications in those experiments. - Separately, a mouse study found that a cluster of hypothalamic SF1 neurons becomes active after exercise and that activating or silencing these neurons influences endurance gains. Summary: These reports identify biological mechanisms that could influence future research on diabetes and on how the brain supports exercise-induced endurance gains. Undetermined at this time.