SWEDEN: In recent research conducted by a team of Swedish researchers, those with elevated levels of prostasin, a protein found in the epithelial cells which cover the body surfaces and organs, are more prone to develop diabetes. The study was published in the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Diabetologica.
In the investigation of almost 4000 individuals aged over 22 years, researchers found that those with higher protein prostasin blood levels were 76% more likely to acquire diabetes and 43% more likely to die from cancer. Notably, the results indicate that individuals with high blood sugar and protein levels had a higher chance of dying from cancer.
Despite taking a variety of important lifestyle variables like age, sex, drinking and smoking patterns, waist circumference, cholesterol, and blood pressure, the findings remained constant. The source of blood samples for the study was the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study, a population-based prospective study in Malmö, which has been operational since 1993.
Professor Gunnar Engström of Lund University in Malmö, who was the co-lead author of the study, said, “This study is the most thorough of its sort to date and adds fresh information about the biological link between diabetes and cancer. This is interesting because it increases the possibility of targeting this protein with future treatments for both diabetes and cancer. Prostasin may just be a signal that disease may arise or could be causally relevant.”
Numerous studies have preliminarily established a correlation between diabetes and an advanced threat of getting various cancers, along with an increased mortality rate because of it. Diabetes medications are proven to be a factor in the correlation between the two diseases.
Apart from having a 30% more risk of bowel cancer and a 20% higher risk of breast cancer, the chance of individuals with type 2 diabetes acquiring pancreatic, endometrial, and liver cancer is double.
According to the study, Younger participants, those with lower blood glucose levels, and those with better kidney function were shown to have prostasin levels that were a stronger predictor of diabetes than older participants.
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