Platypus venom brings new breakthroughs in the treatment of diabetes

The results, now published in the "Science Report" of the journal Nature, show that the same hormones that regulate blood sugar production in the intestines of the platypus are unexpectedly produced in their venom.

The study was led by Professor Frank Grutzner of the University of Adelaide and Associate Professor Briony Forbes of Flinders University.

A hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is usually secreted in the intestines of humans and animals, stimulating insulin release to lower blood sugar.

However, GLP-1 usually degrades within a few minutes.

In people with type 2 diabetes, short stimuli caused by GLP-1 are not sufficient to maintain proper blood glucose balance. Therefore, hormone drugs that include longer durations are needed to help provide extended release of insulin.

"Our research team has found that single-hole animals - our iconic platypus and acupuncture have evolved changes in the hormone GLP-1, making them usually degradable in human cells," said lead author Frank Professor Lutzner, working at the University of Adelaide School of Biological Sciences and the Robinson Institute.

"We have found that GLP-1 is degraded in a single chain by a completely different mechanism. Further analysis of the genetics of single strands reveals that there appears to be a molecular counteracting that occurs between the functions of GLP-1, which is usually produced in In the intestines, but surprisingly they also exist in their venom," he said.

The platypus produces powerful venom during the breeding season and is used by men to compete with females.

"We found that GLP-1 is contradictory in the function of the platypus: as a blood sugar regulator in the intestine, venom prevents other platypus during the breeding season. This confrontation between different functions leads to dramatic changes in the GLP-1 system." Associate Professor Briony Forbes, co-editor of the Flinders University School of Medicine, said.

"The function in venom is likely to trigger the evolution of a stable form of GLP-1 in monocytes. Excitingly, stable GLP-1 molecules are ideal as potential treatment options for type 2 diabetes."

Professor Grutzner said: "This is an amazing discovery of how molecules shape and optimize their functions during the millions of years of evolution."

"These findings have the potential to break down diabetes treatment, which is one of our biggest health challenges, and how to turn this discovery into a treatment needs to be the subject of our future research."

GLP-1 has also been found in the venom of deafness. However, this is not the case when the platypus's hind limbs are sending a large amount of venom to their opponents.

Professor Grutzner said: "The lack of stimulation of the thorns is still an evolutionary mystery, but the fact that the platypus and acupuncture have evolved the same long-acting form of the hormone GLP-1 is itself a very exciting finding."