![]() The team also examined the venom of echidnas, themselves members of order Monotremata, who develop the poison but puzzlingly possess no spur to deliver it. Their study is believed to be the first ever to sequence the cDNA of platypus venom. Researchers from Australia, led by Professor Frank Grutzner of the University of Adelaide, recently took a close look at that venom, publishing their results this week in Scientific Reports. The GLP-1 contained in platypus venom may provide a lead on that. The problem with GLP-1, however, is how quickly it degrades in the gut due to cleavage by dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4), fueling the need for potentially longer-lasting versions of the hormone for extended insulin management. Several well-known drugs, like dulaglutide (sold as Trulicity by Lilly) and liraglutide (Novo Nordisk’s Victoza), are GLP-1 agonists. GLP-1 stimulates the release of insulin in order to lower blood glucose, and as such is used commonly in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Contained in the venom is a form of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) hormone, which is also secreted in the guts of mammals, humans included. The venom exists as a weapon for male dominance, deployed from spurs on the hind limbs in competition during mating season. And in this most unlikely of substances, there may be a potential treatment for diabetes. In addition to being entirely unique to Australia and New Guinea, and among the only order of mammals that lay eggs (called monotremes), platypuses have another particular characteristic: they secrete venom. Diabetics may have an unlikely ally: the platypus. ![]()
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