Rotten egg gas could stop heart disease
THE gas given off by rotten eggs could halt heart disease in patients with diabetes. Hydrogen sulphide — often used in stink bombs — seems to repair damage done to cells that line the inside of blood vessels.
This damage is caused by prolonged exposure to high levels of blood sugar and leads to inflammation, which restricts blood flow to vital organs such as the heart, raising the risk of a heart attack.
Injecting a drug that releases tiny amounts of rotten egg gas into damaged cells dampens down the inflammation, restoring blood vessels to good health.
So far, the drug (known as AP123) has been tested only on mice, but scientists at the University of Exeter who developed it hope to begin human trials within the next few years.
Public Health England recently warned that a record 3.8 million people in England have diabetes — that’s roughly one in nine people.
The vast majority have type 2, triggered by an unhealthy diet and lifestyle. Type 1 is not related to lifestyle and tends to come on in childhood as a result of the immune system going haywire.
BUT all diabetes patients are at risk of damage to the blood vessels because the pancreas stops producing insulin altogether or its output drops sharply.
Insulin helps muscles and tissues take up sugar from the blood to burn as a source of fuel.
Without the right levels of insulin, high levels of glucose in the blood interfere with the delicate cells — the endothelial cells — that keep blood vessel walls smooth and stretchy.
According to the charity Diabetes UK, 80 per cent of people with diabetes die from heart disease as a result of the effects on circulation.
But a one-off injection of a drug that releases the foul-smelling gas could reduce the risks. The Exeter team tested it on blood vessels from mice. Under a microscope, they injected minute quantities of AP123 inside the endothelial cells.
The drug was injected into the mitochondria, the engine room found in almost every cell in the body and which generate the energy needed to keep the cell alive.
Previous studies found that when there is illness or injury, all cells in the affected area are attacked by harmful molecules called free radicals, which cause inflammation.
The stress of this stops the mitochondria functioning properly, so the cell naturally releases small amounts of hydrogen sulphide to dampen down the inflammation and get the mitochondria working at full capacity again.
But constant exposure to high blood sugar levels is thought to interfere with cells’ ability to generate enough of the smelly gas.
Once it has been injected into the blood vessel wall, the new drug slowly gives off hydrogen sulphide for days or even weeks. Now, the scientists need to perfect a way of getting the drug into blood vessels around the heart safely.
Professor Matthew Whiteman, who led the research, said: ‘Some people find it amusing that a substance with a bad reputation can produce these benefits.
‘But nearly every cell in our body makes and responds to tiny amounts of hydrogen sulphide.’
In 2014, the same team reported that injections of hydrogen sulphide could also be a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Tests in mice showed it significantly reduced swelling and inflammation in damaged joints.
Other studies suggest it could also lower blood pressure in people with hypertension (high blood pressure) by helping muscles in blood vessel walls to relax and easing the pressure blood exerts on them.
Commenting on the research, Anna Morris, head of research funding at Diabetes UK, says: ‘The complications of diabetes, such as heart disease, can be devastating. That’s why it’s so important that research to combat these complications takes place.
‘This early stage study suggests targeted use of hydrogen sulphide may potentially help to protect against the vascular complications of diabetes.
‘We look forward to seeing this taken forward in human studies.’
MEANWHILE, doctors at the University of Michigan have found that reducing carbohydrate intake for 24 hours is enough to lower insulin resistance — where the cells become resistant to the hormone insulin so blood sugar levels remain high, raising the risk of diabetes.
RESEARCHERS divided 32 women into four groups and gave each group three low-carb (i.e. 30 per cent carb) meals or three high-carb (60 per cent carb) meals — with exercise or no exercise.
While the exercise made no difference to their insulin resistance, the low-carb meals reduced insulin resistance within 24 hours.
‘What is remarkable about our findings is that they show that a simple dietary modification of reducing the carbohydrate content of meals can, within a day, protect against development of insulin resistance and block the path toward the development of prediabetes,’ said the researchers.