Remote control of blood sugar: Electromagnetic fields treat diabetes in
animal models
Study suggests EMFs alter redox signaling to improve insulin sensitivity


Date:
October 6, 2020
Source:
University of Iowa Health Care
Summary:
Researchers may have discovered a safe new way to manage blood sugar
non- invasively. Exposing diabetic mice to a combination of static
electric and magnetic fields for a few hours per day normalizes
blood sugar and insulin resistance. The unexpected and surprising
discovery raises the possibility of using electromagnetic fields
(EMFs) as a remote control to manage type 2 diabetes.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== [Scientist holding lab | Credit: (c) filin174 / stock.adobe.com] Scientist holding lab mouse (stock image).

Credit: (c) filin174 / stock.adobe.com [Scientist holding lab | Credit:
(c) filin174 / stock.adobe.com] Scientist holding lab mouse (stock image).

Credit: (c) filin174 / stock.adobe.com Close Researchers from the
University of Iowa may have discovered a safe new way to manage blood
sugar non-invasively. Exposing diabetic mice to a combination of static electric and magnetic fields for a few hours per day normalizes two major hallmarks of type 2 diabetes, according to new findings published Oct. 6
in Cell Metabolism.


========================================================================== "We've built a remote control to manage diabetes," says Calvin
Carter, PhD, one of the study's lead authors and a postdoc in the
lab of senior author Val Sheffield, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics,
and of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the UI Carver College of
Medicine. "Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) for relatively
short periods reduces blood sugar and normalizes the body's response to insulin. The effects are long-lasting, opening the possibility of an EMF therapy that can be applied during sleep to manage diabetes all day."
The unexpected and surprising discovery may have major implications
in diabetes care, particularly for patients who find current treatment
regimens cumbersome.

The new study indicates that EMFs alter the balance of oxidants and antioxidants in the liver, improving the body's response to insulin. This effect is mediated by small reactive molecules that seem to function as "magnetic antennae." Serendipity and Collaboration The initial finding
was pure serendipity. Sunny Huang, Carter's co-lead author and an MD/PhD student interested in metabolism and diabetes, needed to practice taking
blood from mice and measuring blood sugar levels. Carter offered to let
her borrow some of the mice he was using to study the effect of EMFs on
brain and behavior in the animals.



==========================================================================
"It was really odd because normally these animals have high blood sugar
and type 2 diabetes, but all of the animals exposed to EMFs showed normal
blood sugar levels," Huang says. "I told Calvin, 'There's something
weird going on here.'" The finding that these mice had normal blood
sugar levels after EMF exposure was doubly strange because the mice had
a genetic modification which made them diabetic.

"That's what sparked this project," Carter confirms. "Early on, we
recognized that if the findings held up, they could have a major impact
on diabetes care." The findings held up. Carter and Huang, working
with Sheffield and UI diabetes expert Dale Abel, MD, PhD, chair of the
UI Department of Internal Medicine, found that the combined wireless application of static magnetic and electric fields modulates blood sugar
in three different mouse models of type 2 diabetes. The team also showed
that exposure to such fields, approximately 100 times that of the Earth's, during sleep, reversed insulin resistance within three days of treatment.

EMFs and Redox Biology EMFs are everywhere; telecommunications,
navigation, and mobile devices all use them to function. EMFs are also
used in medicine, in MRIs and EEGs, for example. However, very little is
known about how they affect biology. On their hunt for clues to understand
the mechanisms underlying the biological effects of EMFs on blood sugar
and insulin sensitivity, Carter and Huang reviewed literature from the
1970s investigating bird migration. They found that many animals sense
the Earth's electromagnetic field and use it to orient themselves as
well as for navigation.



========================================================================== "This literature pointed to a quantum biological phenomenon whereby
EMFs may interact with specific molecules. There are molecules in our
bodies that are thought to act like tiny magnetic antenna, enabling a biological response to EMFs," Carter says. "Some of these molecules are oxidants, which are studied in redox biology, an area of research that
deals with the behavior of electrons and reactive molecules that govern cellular metabolism." The team collaborated with Douglas Spitz , PhD,
and Gary Buettner, PhD, UI professors of radiation oncology, and Jason
Hansen, PhD, from Brigham Young University, all internationally recognized experts in redox biology, to help probe the action of an oxidant molecule called superoxide, which is known to play a role in type 2 diabetes.

Their experiments suggest that EMFs alter the signaling of superoxide molecules, specifically in the liver, which leads to the prolonged
activation of an antioxidant response to rebalance the body's redox set
point and the response to insulin.

"When we remove superoxide molecules from the liver, we completely block
the effect of the EMFs on blood sugar and on the insulin response. The
evidence suggests that superoxide plays an important role in this
process," Carter adds.

Aiming for Human Studies In addition to the mouse studies, the researchers
also treated human liver cells with EMFs for six hours and showed that
a surrogate marker for insulin sensitivity improved significantly,
suggesting that the EMFs may also produce the same anti-diabetic effect
in humans.

Carter and Huang are energized by the possibility of translating the
findings to human patients with type 2 diabetes. In terms of safety,
the World Health Organization considers low energy EMFs safe for human
health. The UI study also found no evidence of any adverse side effects
in mice.

The team is now working on a larger animal model to see if the EMFs
produce similar effects in an animal that has a more similar size and physiology to humans. They also plan to conduct studies to understand the
redox mechanism underlying the effects of EMFs. Their ultimate goal is
to move into clinical trials with patients to translate the technology
into a new class of therapies.

With that goal in mind, Carter, Huang, and Carter's twin brother, Walter,
have created a startup company called Geminii Health, with help from
the UI Office for the Vice President of Research.

"Our dream is to create a new class of non-invasive medicines that
remotely take control of cells to fight disease," Carter says.

The multidisciplinary research team also included scientists from the
UI Departments of Radiology, Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Physics and Astronomy, as well as
colleagues from Vanderbilt University.

The research was funded in large part by philanthropic gifts from the
Janice and Herbert Wilson Family Foundation, the Chris and Charles
Chessman Foundation, and the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust.

Funding was also provided by the American Diabetes Association,
the Francois Abboud Cardiovascular Center and the University of Iowa
Research Foundation.

Researchers on the team were also supported by funding from the National
Eye Institute, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute
of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute, the Teresa Benoit Diabetes Research Fund,
and the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center.

Carter, Huang, Sheffield, Charles Searby and Michael Miller have patents pending related to this work.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Iowa_Health_Care. Original written by Jennifer Brown. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Calvin S. Carter, Sunny C. Huang, Charles C. Searby, Benjamin
Cassaidy,
Michael J. Miller, Wojciech J. Grzesik, Ted B. Piorczynski,
Thomas K.

Pak, Susan A. Walsh, Michael Acevedo, Qihong Zhang, Kranti
A. Mapuskar, Ginger L. Milne, Antentor O. Hinton, Deng-Fu Guo,
Robert Weiss, Kyle Bradberry, Eric B. Taylor, Adam J. Rauckhorst,
David W. Dick, Vamsidhar Akurathi, Kelly C. Falls-Hubert, Brett
A. Wagner, Walter A. Carter, Kai Wang, Andrew W. Norris, Kamal
Rahmouni, Garry R. Buettner, Jason M.

Hansen, Douglas R. Spitz, E. Dale Abel, Val C. Sheffield. Exposure
to Static Magnetic and Electric Fields Treats Type 2 Diabetes. Cell
Metabolism, 2020; 32 (4): 561 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2020.09.012 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201006153507.htm

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