We may finally know why so many patients with high blood pressure also have diabetes, according to new findings published in Circulation Research. The primary culprit appears to be the fact that glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a hormone, couples the body’s control of blood sugar and blood pressure at the same time.
“We’ve known for a long time that hypertension and diabetes are inextricably linked and have finally discovered the reason, which will now inform new treatment strategies,” co-senior author Julian Paton, director of Manaaki Manawa - The Center for Heart Research at the University of Aukland, said in a prepared statement.
The authors explained that GLP-1 is released from the wall of the gut after someone eats and stimulates insulin from the pancreas to control blood sugar levels. Although this was already known, researchers have now determined that GLP-1 also stimulates a small sensory organ in the neck, the carotid body.
“Locating the link required genetic profiling and multiple steps of validation," added co-senior author David Murphy, professor of experimental medicine with Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences in the U.K. "We never expected to see GLP-1 come up on the radar, so this is very exciting and opens many new opportunities."
According to the authors, patients who have been diagnosed with hypertension and/or diabetes have greater odds of developing life-threatening cardiovascular disease, even if they are taking medication to control symptoms.
“We’ve known that blood pressure is notoriously difficult to control in patients with high blood sugar, so these findings are really important because by giving GLP-1 we might be able to reduce both sugar and pressure together, and these two factors are major contributors to cardiovascular risk,” professor Rod Jackson, an epidemiologist with the University of Aukland, added in the same statement.
The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation and the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
Read the full study here.