Cough medicine helps with diabetes

Green shows cells that produce insulin.



A large group of researchers led by German scientists discovered an unexpected use for ordinary cough medicine based on dextromethorphan . These drugs are sold freely in pharmacies and help people suffering from dry cough. But, as scientists have found , this substance can help people with diabetes.



Current diabetes medications regulate insulin deficiency in the body. But, unfortunately, as a result of their action in the blood, the basal (main) level of insulin in the blood greatly increases, resulting in hypoglycemia (a sharp decrease in glucose level). And this condition can lead to a number of extremely unpleasant consequences, including coma. Diabetes patients need medications that would stimulate the insulin response only in response to high blood glucose levels, without increasing insulin levels unnecessarily.



Dextromethorphan-based drugs have been used after the recent ban on drugs containing codeine (they were recorded as precursors - the substances that make drugs). This substance acts on the NMDA receptors located in the brain and suppresses the urge to cough. Interestingly, the same receptors have long been found in the pancreas - but no one knew why they were there.

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Scientists decided to understand the function of these receptors in the pancreas. To do this, they used a simple, but proven approach - they were removed from the mice and watched what happened as a result. Researchers have blocked these receptors, both genetically and chemically, using dextromethorphan.



It turned out that when they are blocked, the level of insulin in the blood rises only in response to high glucose levels. The basal level is not disturbed. These results so inspired scientists that they conducted double-blind testing with placebo in people with type 2 diabetes. The test was a success - cough medicine helped people treated with metformin to increase insulin production without negative consequences in the form of hypoglycemia.