- I found that when a mouse cannot use melatonin they do not respond normally to high glucose levels. Normally when glucose levels are high, the pancreas produces insulin to tell the cells to take up glucose and use it for energy, and inhibits glucagon, as its role is to promote the making of glucose. However, in my model, when glucose is high, the cells of the pancreas do not inhibit glucagon production, but instead cause more glucagon to be released. The result of this is that the body has more glucose than it needs and the pancreas needs to release a lot more insulin to try to deal with this. Unnecessarily high levels of glucose and insulin can be harmful to our body and is what causes diabetes. Therefore, I have shown that we need normal melatonin so that we have glucose levels that are not harmful to our body and ensures we have normal metabolism, she says.
Inspiraton for future experiments
Claire Lyons has a poster presentation at the European diabetes conference EASD in Barcelona.
- I really enjoy sharing my work and getting feedback and suggestions from other researchers. Attendance at talks from both renowned diabetes researchers and young researchers alike provides novel information and often inspiration for future experiments. There are so many great speakers and sessions at EASD but for me personally I am looking forward to the talks on alpha cells, as this is one of the main focuses of my work. Oftentimes the beta cells take the limelight when it comes to diabetes but this year there are at least four sessions, in addition to multiple posters, about alpha cells, or as one the sessions describes it, ‘The undervalued actors in metabolism: pancreatic alpha cells and glucagon’.
14 000 attendees from around the world
- This will be my second year attending EASD and I do feel it is important to go every year if possible. As poster presentations are chaired at EASD, they are ranked equally to that of oral presentations, which is a unique feature. There will be close to 14,000 attendees from around the world at EASD, which means there is a wide range of topics covered, spanning all aspects of diabetes, and giving many opportunities to meet fellow researchers in the area. Abstracts from EASD are also published in an edition of the EASD journal Diabetologia, which is another advantage, especially for young researchers. I think the opportunity to promote Lund University at the international level is another great reason to attend the EASD meeting. As over 100 countries are represented, it is a great opportunity to see how diabetes research is being investigated worldwide, Claire Lyons says.
Learn more about Clair Lyons research during the poster session "The many roles of other hormones", Wednesday September 18, 12.00-13.00.