Leptin (a hormone produced by fat cells and involved in the regulation of body weight) administered therapy instead of insulin showed better management of blood-sugar variability and lipogenesis, the conversion of simple sugars into fatty acids.

     Dr Roger Unger (Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern) and his team used mouse models for this study.

     "Insulin cells are destroyed in people with type 1 diabetes, however matching the high insulin levels needed to reach glucagon cells with insulin injections is possible only with amounts that are excessive for other tissues," said Unger, senior author of the latest study.

     "Peripherally injected insulin cannot accurately mimic the normal mechanism by which the body produces and distributes insulin," Unger added.

     Benefits of letpin's glucose-lowering action appear to involve the suppression of glucagon. Normally, glucagon is released when the glucose level in the blood is low.

     "Leptin treatment in the non-obese type 1 diabetic mouse profoundly reduced food intake, which in turn reduced body fat. And like insulin, leptin suppresses glucagon in the body and helps increase lean body mass," Unger said.