Seattle – October 28, 2009 – To the average person, antioxidants are almost marketing terms, overused and overhyped by vitamin manufacturers and beauty companies hoping to sell consumers on their benefits. To Paul Robertson, M.D., however, Principal Scientist at the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute (PNDRI), antioxidants could prove to be powerful weapons against the ravages of Type II diabetes.

"Certain antioxidants could play a hugely important role in managing blood glucose levels," he said. "Our basic, pre-clinical research has shown that they can ameliorate the development of hyperglycemia, which, when left uncontrolled, destroys pancreatic beta cells and thereby propagates the disease. By enhancing these cells with antioxidant defenses, we can prevent—or perhaps even reverse—the deterioration of beta cell function so characteristic of Type II diabetes."

Already solidly backed by successful cell line and pre-clinical results, the U.S. Department of Defense recently awarded Dr. Robertson a two-year, $1.7 million grant to expand his research to humans. Volunteers from Madigan Army Medical Center and the Snoqualmie Nation will participate in the study.

"We'll never cure diabetes with current therapeutic approaches," said Dr. Robertson. "We need to provide a new layer of protection against the residually high glucose levels that usually persist despite the best treatment available. Prolonged hyperglycemia causes oxidative stress, which harms the beta cell. So, we propose giving antioxidants to see if they protect the beta cell. If they do, the beta cell will get better instead of continuing to deteriorate and, over a number of years, new beta cells will form and might cure the patient of hyperglycemia."

At the center of Dr. Robertson's work are free radicals called reactive oxygen species, or ROS, which can be formed by glucose. When ROS accumulate in excess levels for prolonged periods of time, they cause chronic oxidative stress, which can ultimately lead to cell death. ROS are particularly relevant and dangerous for the islet, which has one of the lowest levels of intrinsic antioxidant defense among all tissues.

"This grant will enable us to determine whether augmenting these defenses is an appropriate therapeutic strategy to lessen the impact of diabetes and hyperglycemia in the beta cell," said Dr. Robertson.

Dr. Robertson currently serves as President for Medicine and Science for the American Diabetes Association and is a professor of pharmacology and medicine at the University of Washington. Previous professorships include those at the University of Colorado and the University of Minnesota, where he held the endowed Pennock Chair in Diabetes Research. He was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians and is a former editor-in-chief of Diabetes. He currently serves on the editorial board for Journal of Biological Chemistry and is editor-in-chief of Endocrine Reviews. Dr. Robertson is a recipient of the Moses Barron Award, the William C. Stadie Award, the Albert Renold Medal, and the Banting Medal. The author of more than 320 manuscripts, he completed his doctoral work at Creighton University and his residency and fellowship in endocrinology at the University of Washington.

About Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute (PNDRI): PNDRI is an independent non-profit biomedical and clinical research center dedicated to eliminating diabetes and its complications. Founded in Seattle in 1956 by Dr. William Hutchinson, Sr., who also founded the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, PNDRI is advancing basic and clinical knowledge to help predict, prevent, treat and cure diabetes in all its forms. The Institute's acclaimed team of 85 physicians, scientists and technical staff strive to realize clinical discoveries that improve the health of the 246 million people worldwide living with diabetes. For more information about PNDRI, visit www.pndri.org or call (206) 726-1200. If you were just diagnosed with diabetes or want to learn more about the disease, please visit our Diabetes Resources page.

Contact:

Kelly Burkett

(206) 726-1203

kburkett@pndri.org