Category: university

More than a third of people with Type 2 diabetes who took part in a weight management programme delivered by the NHS through GP surgeries remain free of diabetes two years later.

Bengaluru: These latest findings of the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT), funded by Diabetes UK and led by experts at Newcastle University and the University of Glasgow, were announced today at Diabetes UKs Professional Conference and published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
Professor Roy Taylor from Newcastle University, who co-led the trial, said the findings pull down the curtain on the era of Type 2 diabetes as an inevitably progressive disease.
These new results build on the globally-reported findings of December 2017, which showed that 46% of participants were in remission after one year. A year later, 70% of those participants are still in remission.
The results confirm that remission is closely linked to weight loss; 64% of participants who lost over 10 kilos (1 stone 8 lb) were in remission after two years. Participants regained some weight, as the researchers expected, between the first and second year. However, those in remission after one year who stayed that way had a greater average weight loss (15.5 kilos) than those who did not stay in remission (12 kilos).
Participants were defined as in remission if they had long-term blood glucose levels (HbA1c) of less than 48mmol/mol (6.5%) without needing to use any Type 2 diabetes medications.
Understanding why significant weight loss results in remission of Type 2 diabetes is at the heart of DiRECT. Detailed studies have so far revealed that weight loss can lead to reduced levels of fat inside the pancreas, which in turn is associated with the recovery of pancreas function and insulin production.
By understanding the biology of remission, Professor Taylor and Professor Mike Lean at Glasgow University believe it should be possible to provide better care for people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the future.
Professor Taylor, Director of Newcastle Universitys Magnetic Resonance Centre, and co-primary investigator of the DiRECT trial said: These results are a significant development, and finally pull down the curtain on the era of Type 2 diabetes as an inevitably progressive disease.

We now understand the biological nature of this reversible condition. However, everyone in remission needs to know that evidence to date tells us that your Type 2 diabetes will return if you regain weight.
Even during the second year of freedom from Type 2 diabetes there was a highly suggestive difference in major complications of diabetes. The numbers are still small at the moment, and further information on this must be gathered during the planned longer term follow up.
As well as resulting in remission for many participants, the DIRECT programme led to a drop-in blood glucose levels and fewer diabetes medications across the whole intervention group. The average HbA1c fell from 60mmol/mol at the start to 54mmol/mol at the end of year two. Diabetes medication use dropped from 75% of the group to 40%.
In comparison, the average HbA1c remained similar (58mmol/mol vs 59mmol/mol) in those receiving standard care the control group and the proportion of people taking medications increased from 77% to 84%.
Quality of life scores increased across both groups, but those in the intervention group reported a larger improvement (10-point increase versus 2.5 point increase).
Professor Mike Lean, Head of Human Nutrition at Glasgow University, diabetes specialist physician at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and co-primary investigator of DiRECT, said: Proving in DiRECT that Type 2 diabetes can be put into remission for two years in more than two thirds of people, if they can lose more than 10 kilos, is incredibly exciting. Achieving that entirely in NHS primary care is vital.
People with Type 2 diabetes and healthcare professionals have told us their top research priority is can the condition be reversed or cured. We can now say, with respect to reversal, that yes it can. Now we must focus on helping people maintain their weight loss and stay in remission for life.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson is Director of Research at Diabetes UK. She said: “These results further challenge the perception that Type 2 diabetes needs to be a lifelong condition for everyone diagnosed with it.
Remission of Type 2 diabetes can be life changing; DiRECT offers one potential solution, we are committed to working with the researchers and the NHS to ensure these exciting findings reach people with Type 2 diabetes as soon as possible.
But we know Type 2 diabetes is a complex condition, and this approach will not work for everyone. Thats why were continuing to invest in further research, to understand the biology underlying remission and find ways to make remission a reality for as many people as possible.

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The team won annual scholarship of Rs. 2.16 lakh in the regional rounds of Indias biggest inter-college quiz contest
Christ (Deemed to be University) qualifies for the Grand Finale at Mumbai in March, 2019
423 teams from various colleges in Karnataka participated in this competition
17 teams from regional rounds to battle among each other in the Grand Finale

Bengaluru March, 2019: The team of Christ (Deemed to be University) emerged victorious at the regional rounds of Indias biggest inter-college quiz contest – Numero YONO held in Bengaluru recently. Christ (Deemed to be University) team bagged annual scholarship of Rs. 2.16 lakh that witnessed participation of 423 teams from multiple colleges in the state. The first runner up of this competition was PES University that won annual scholarship of Rs. 1.44 lakh whereas BMS College of Engineering was the second runner up which received a onetime amount of Rs. 12000.

Christ (Deemed to be University) team shines in Numero YONO by SBI

‘Numero YONO’ – presented by State Bank of India, is conducted across all 17 cities where SBI Local Head Offices are located. In the Grand Finale, 17 teams from 17 cities will compete with each other for the top spot to win the total scholarship of Rs. 5.76 lakh at Mumbai in March, 2019.

The 17 cities include Ahmedabad, Amravati, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Pune and Thiruvananthpuram.

Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI said, We would like to congratulate the winning team of Christ (Deemed to be University). Also we want to thank all the teams for their whole-hearted participation in Numero YONO to make this a successful event. We hope that by taking part in this contest, students took away enriching experience of learning and strong team spirit.

In the last few months SBI under its comprehensive digital service platform YONO has come up with diverse youth engagement initiatives. Numero YONO is yet another initiative by the bank to reinforce the brand recall for YONO among its stakeholders.

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Newcastle University scientists have developed a biological system which lets cells form a desired shape by moulding their surrounding material – in the first instance creating a self-curving cornea.

The cornea is the clear outer layer at the front of the eye ball.
In the research, a flat circle of gel containing corneal stromal cells (stem cells) was activated with a serum so that the edges of the gel contracted at a different rate to the centre, drawing up the edge over the course of 5 days to form a bowl-like curved cornea.
The time-lapsed video shows this astonishing process.
The research is published in Advanced Functional Materials and was led by Professor Che Connon, professor of tissue engineering, Newcastle University. He says: Currently there is a shortage of donated corneas which has worsened in recent years, as they cannot be used from anyone who has had laser eye surgery so we need to explore alternatives such as these self-curving corneas.
The cells are triggered into forming a complex 3D structure, but as this requires time to occur, the fourth dimension in this equation, we have labelled them 4D structures.
The 4D formation is achieved by the innovative use of cells as biological actuators, components which get the parts moving. In this case, the cells themselves force the surrounding tissue to move in a pre-determined manner over time.
The gel, comprising collagen and encapsulated corneal cells, was laid out in two concentric circles. The formation of the curved shape which has a bowl-like structure was obtained by adding molecules called peptide amphiphiles to either one of the circles.

In one ring the active cells were pulling the internal structure of the gel (high contraction), in the other they were pulling these peptide amphiphile molecules (low contraction). This difference in contraction between the two concentric rings caused the curvature of the gel.
This happened because the cells preferred to bind to the peptide amphiphile molecules rather the internal structure of the gels.
Professor Connon added: Because all the process was orchestrated by the cells themselves, we can envision them as bio-machines remodelling these structures from the inside.
The technology and understanding we have developed holds enormous potential as these corneas show that engineered tissue shape can be controlled by cell actuators. This may lead us to imagine a future where such an approach can be combined with key-hole surgery enabling a surgeon to implant tissue in one shape which then develops into a more complex, functional shape within the body, driven by the behaviour of the cells themselves.
Dr Martina Miotto, lead author on the paper explained: This is a cutting-edge example of the strict relationship between form and function as the research also showed that the biomechanical and bio-functional properties of these 4D structures reproduced those of the native tissue, with undifferentiated corneal limbal epithelial stem cells located in the softer limbus and the differentiated epithelium spanning the stiffer centre of the anterior cornea.”
The team intend to take the work forward over the next few years with a view to refining the technique as a potential method of manufacturing corneas for human transplant.
REFERENCE: 4D Corneal Tissue Engineering: Achieving Time-Dependent Tissue Self-Curvature through Localized Control of Cell Actuators. Martina Miotto, Ricardo M. Gouveia, Ana M. Ionescu, Francisco Figueiredo, Ian W. Hamley and Che J. Connon. Advanced Functional Materials. Doi: 10.17634/152147-1

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