Breakthrough in diabetes research

Scientists from the University of Ulster and United Arab Emirates University have been studying the insulin releasing capabilities of peptides found on the skin of the Pseudis paradoxa frog. They have found that Pseudin-2, a peptide which protects the frog from infection, stimulates insulin release.

The researchers have tested a synthetic version of the peptide and found it could be used to produce a drug that stimulates the production of insulin. The treatment could be part of a new class of drugs called incretin mimetics.