Diabetes drug triggers neuron growth, potential to regenerate brain cells: study

The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION

By: Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press

5/07/2012 3:37 PM | Comments: 0

Enlarge Image

Principal investigator Dr.Freda Miller is shown in an undated handout photo.Canadian researchers have found that a drug widely used to treat Type 2 diabetes can help trigger the mechanism that signals stem cells to become brain cells.THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Hospital for Sick Children

TORONTO - A drug commonly used to control Type 2 diabetes can help trigger stem cells to produce new brain cells, providing hope of a potential means to treat brain injuries and even neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, researchers say.

A study by scientists at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children found the drug metformin helps activate the mechanism that signals stem cells to generate neurons and other brain cells.

"If you could take stem cells that normally reside in our brains and somehow use drugs to recruit them into becoming appropriate neural cell types, then you may be able to promote repair and recovery in at least some of the many brain disorders and injuries for which we currently have no treatment," said principal investigator Freda Miller.

"This work is happening against a background of a lot of excitement in the stem cell field about the idea that since we now know that we have stem cells in many of our adult tissues, then perhaps if we could figure out how to pharmacologically tweak those stem cells, then perhaps we could help to promote tissue repair," added Miller, a senior scientist at SickKids.

The research, published online Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell, involved lab-dish experiments using both mouse and human brain stem cells, as well as learning and memory tests performed on live mice given the drug.

Originally posted here:
Diabetes drug triggers neuron growth, potential to regenerate brain cells: study