Salsalate (otc generic) substantially reduces glucose in diabetics. (e.g. down from 150 to 110)

[Guest guest]

HEALTHBEAT: Anti-inflammatories for diabetes? Scientists hunt what makes

obesity cause disease

 

*Canadian Press*

 

03-02-10

 

WASHINGTON - What if you could be fat but avoid heart disease or diabetes?

Scientists trying to break the fat-and-disease link increasingly say

inflammation is the key.

 

In the quest to prove it, a major study is under way testing whether an

anti-inflammatory drug - an old, cheap cousin of aspirin - can fight the

Type 2 diabetes spurred by obesity.

 

And intriguing new research illustrates how those yellow globs of fat

lurking under the skin are more than a storage site for extra calories.

They're a toxic neighbourhood where inflammation appears to be born.

 

Diabetes and heart disease usually tag along with extra pounds (kilograms),

a huge risk for many who are overweight or obese. What is not clear is what

sets off the cascade of damage that ends in those illnesses. After all,

there are examples of obese people who somehow stay metabolically fit - no

high blood pressure or high blood sugar or high cholesterol.

 

" If fat cells functioned perfectly, you could be as obese as you want and

not have heart disease, " says Dr. Carey Lumeng of the University of

Michigan. " It's something we don't understand, why some people are more

susceptible and others are not so susceptible. "

 

Solving that mystery could point to more targeted treatments for obesity's

threats than today's effective but hard-to-follow advice to lose weight. The

chief suspect: Inflammation that the immune system normally uses to fight

infection runs amok with weight gain - simmering inside fat tissue before

spreading to harm blood vessels and spur insulin resistance.

 

" We all think it's bad, and we know a lot of people with really bad

inflammation die sooner, " says Dr. Myrlene Staten of the National Institutes

of Health's diabetes division.

 

Dr. Steven Shoelson at the Harvard University-affiliated Joslin Diabetes

Center noted reports from 150 years ago that one of the oldest

anti-inflammatories around - salsalate, from the aspirin family - could

lower blood sugar. Less harsh on the stomach than aspirin, generic salsalate

is used today for arthritis, and Shoelson discovered that it inhibits what

he calls a master switch in inflammation regulation.

 

" We put those pieces together and sure enough, it does work, " says Shoelson.

 

 

Pilot trials found short-term use of salsalate, added to regular diabetes

medication, helped poorly controlled Type 2 diabetics lower their blood

sugar substantially. Fasting glucose levels dropped from about an average of

150 down to 110, Schoelson says.

 

Now an NIH-funded study is recruiting several hundred Type 2 diabetics at 21

medical centres around the U.S. to take the drug or a dummy pill for a year,

to track long-term effects.

 

But what sparks that inflammation in the first place? Other researchers are

hot on the trail of immune cells called macrophages that cluster inside fat

tissue.

 

In a novel study, Dr. Preeti Kishore of Albert Einstein College of Medicine

took 30 somewhat overweight but healthy volunteers and infused free fatty

acids, a type of fat molecule, directly into their blood. She was mimicking

what happens in the obese, when these fatty acids spill out from stored fat

and continually flow through the body.

 

The results were startling: For five hours, the volunteers' bodies quit

responding effectively to insulin. They also experienced a surge in a

protein called PAI-1 (pronounced Pie-one) that sets off a chain reaction

linked to heart disease-causing blood clots and diabetes. When Kishore took

samples of the volunteers' fat tissue, she found the macrophages start

producing more PAI-1 as they are bathed in the fatty acids.

 

The more pounds (kilograms) you put on, the bigger fat cells called

adipocytes become until they release fatty acids and eventually die. The

theory is that macrophages come in to clean up the dead cells but are

hijacked to produce inflammation-causing chemicals - signals that also spur

further adipocyte dysfunction. Kishore's work suggests fat tissue primes

macrophages to be switched on by a boost in fatty acids, starting the

inflammation cycle.

 

" What's really exciting to us, is trying to understand these mechanisms can

essentially help us to target therapies more effectively in the future, "

says Kishore, whose research was published last week in the journal Science

Translational Medicine.

 

She points to Shoelson's study of salsalate - which blocks a related protein

found in macrophages and other immune cells - as a first step.

 

" Four to five years ago, no one thought fat tissue matters for this stuff, "

adds Michigan's Lumeng, who studies the macrophage link. " There clearly are

going to be anti-inflammatory therapies for diabetes coming out of the

pipeline. "

 

-

 

EDITOR's NOTE - Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The

Associated Press in Washington.

 

On the Net:

 

Salsalate diabetes study: http://tinyurl.com/yhop86s

 

===========================================================

Side Effects of Salsalate

 

All medicines may cause side

effects<http://www.drugs.com/sfx/salsalate-side-effects.html#>,

but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your

doctor<http://www.drugs.com/sfx/salsalate-side-effects.html#>if any of

these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when

using Salsalate:

 

Heartburn; nausea; upset

stomach<http://www.drugs.com/sfx/salsalate-side-effects.html#>

..

 

Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur

when using Salsalate:

 

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; difficulty breathing; tightness in

the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); black or bloody

stools; confusion; diarrhea; dizziness; drowsiness; hearing loss; ringing in

the ears; severe stomach

pain<http://www.drugs.com/sfx/salsalate-side-effects.html#>;

vomiting.

 

===================================================

Salsalate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

*Salsalate* is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory

drug<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-steroidal_anti-inflammatory_drug>(NSAID).

Salsalate is in a class of drugs called salicylates. Salsalate may

work by inhibiting the production of and release of

prostaglandins<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostaglandin>.

Salsalate is the generic name of a prescription drug marketed under the

brandnames <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandname> Mono-Gesic, Salflex,

Disalcid, and Salsitab. Other generic and brand name formulations may be

available.[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsalate#cite_note-0>

 

Typical Use: Salsalate is used to reduce pain and inflammation caused by

conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and related

rheumatic conditions. Salsalate is also recommended by physicians as an

anti-inflamatory alternative to naproxen, and ibuprofen for patients that

have had minor stomach bleeding or stomach upset. It has also been used as

an alternative to narcotic pain medicine for people with spinal disc

protrusion.

 

" In contrast to aspirin, salsalate causes no greater fecal gastrointestinal

blood loss than placebo. "

[2]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsalate#cite_note-1>

Research on use to prevent or treat Type II Diabetes

 

The Wall Street Journal Health Blog reported on research on using Salsalate

to prevent or treat type II diabetes: " In a 20-patient, month-long study,

the fasting glucose levels of those who took salsalate declined 13% compared

with those who took a placebo. The results, published in the Feb. issue of

Diabetes Care, suggest that the drug reduces blood sugar in obese adults who

don’t have diabetes, apparently by making insulin work

better. " [3]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsalate#cite_note-2>

 

References

 

*^ <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsalate#cite_ref-0>* drugs.com Salsalate

entry [1] <http://www.drugs.com/mtm/salsalate.html>

 

1. *^ <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsalate#cite_ref-1>* DrugBank:

DB01399

(Salsalate)<http://redpoll.pharmacy.ualberta.ca/drugbank2/cgi-bin/getCard.cgi?CA\

RD=DB01399.txt>

2. *^ <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsalate#cite_ref-2>* Aspirin cousin

could help prevent

diabetes<http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/01/28/aspirin-cousin-could-help-treat-\

prevent-diabetes/?mod=homeblogmod_healthblog>

blogs.wsj.com