New substances derived from cannabis are being used to tackle kidney failure linked to diabetes as part of a new research project.
Around 40% of people who have diabetes go on to develop kidney failure, also known as diabetic nephropathy.
The project, being led by the University of Aberdeen, is looking at whether synthetic cannabinoid compounds can help the kidneys respond better to insulin, the hormone everyone with type 1 diabetes needs to take to control their blood glucose levels.
More than three million people in the UK currently have diabetes and by 2025 the number is expected to rise to five million. By 2040 there will be 640 million across the world living with the condition, scientists estimate.
Researchers said active ingredients in the cannabis plant are already known to have beneficial effects for the treatment of a number of conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis.
They do this by acting on the body's own "endocannabinoid-system", made up of receptors named CB1 and CB2.
Those receptors are also found in the kidney cells, with CB1 levels increased in patients with kidney failure due to diabetes, and CB2 being down.
Dr Mirela Delibegovic, who leads the study, said: "New evidence suggests that to combat diabetes and its complications, we want to block CB1 receptors and activate CB2, and we think these novel compounds could allow us to do this.
"Diabetic nephropathy can lead to patients requiring dialysis or renal transplantation, therefore identifying if novel cannabinoid compounds can be used to ameliorate this disease is of upmost importance.
"There are already some cannabanoids used to treat inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, so these compounds could be taken relatively fast from benchside to bedside."
The research team in Aberdeen is collaborating with Bristol University, which has given them access to human cells from patients with kidney disease.
The study has been funded by Diabetes UK.
Details of the research have been released to coincide with World Diabetes Day on Saturday.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article