Hans Christian Hagedorn Prize 2012: central insulin effects and hepatic glucose metabolism in focus

04.07.2012 21:41

As part of the 47th annual meeting of the German Diabetes Society (DDG) on May 18, 2012 in Stuttgart, the Hans Christian Hagedorn Project Promotion Prize 2012 was awarded to Professor Dr. Michael Roden, Düsseldorf. The prize, worth 25,000 euros, is donated annually by Novo Nordisk Pharma GmbH and awarded by the jury to promote scientific projects of the German Diabetes Society. This year, the outstanding research work on the topic of “Direct and indirect effects of central insulin administration on hepatic glucose metabolism” is recognized.

Complex regulatory disorders in diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a complex metabolic disease in which, in addition to insulin deficiency, numerous other metabolic changes play an important role. In people with diabetes, the regulation of fat storage and the metabolism of glycogen, the body's own storage form for glucose, is disturbed in the liver.

It has long been known that insulin has different effects depending on whether it is administered in the brain or in the rest of the body (peripherally). In humans, insulin administration via the nose increases the levels of the metabolic hormone in the brain. However, detailed knowledge of the complicated signal paths and control circuits is still missing.

Positive effects of intranasal insulin

The research project is investigating whether intranasal insulin has advantages on overall metabolism compared to peripheral administration of the metabolic hormone in people with type 2 diabetes. To this end, the different effects of intranasally and peripherally administered insulin on the body's own glucose production in the liver and glycogen turnover should be examined. The role of blood lipids and fat in the liver is also being investigated.

The chairman of the DDG jury for the promotion of scientific projects, Professor Dr. Michael Nauck, explained: “Innovative approaches in diabetes research are important in order to open up new avenues. Confirmation of Professor Roden’s hypotheses could enable new treatment options in the long term.”

Insulin research – fascination for generations

Michael Roden, who comes from Vienna, is director of the Clinic for Internal Medicine/Metabolic Diseases at the University Hospital Düsseldorf and head of the Department of Clinical Diabetology at the German Diabetes Center of the Leibniz Association, Düsseldorf. His main research interests include human energy metabolism with a focus on diabetes, obesity and hormonally based high blood pressure diseases.

Hans Christian Hagedorn, the namesake of the research award, went down in the history of diabetology as the developer of new insulin preparations and co-founder of the Nordisk insulin laboratory - one of the founding companies of Novo Nordisk. Hagedorn was one of the pioneers of insulin production and diabetes research, was the founder of the Steno-Diabetes Hospital near Copenhagen, Denmark, and developed the first long-acting insulin, the NPH insulin (Neutral Protamine Hagedorn), which is also named after him. Since 2002, Novo Nordisk has supported the Hans Christian Hagedorn project funding and thus the best research project in the field of experimental or clinical diabetology.