Study leader Dr. Yasser Abdel-Wahab, senior lecturer in biomedical sciences at the University of Ulster, said there had been a lot of research into bioactive molecules from amphibian skin secretions. One recently developed diabetes drug - exenatide - was developed from a hormone in the saliva of the Gila monster - a lizard found in south-western United States and northern Mexico. ""We found that it stimulated the secretion of insulin and that the synthetic version is more potent that pseudin-2 itself. ""More research is needed, but there is a growing body of work around natural anti-diabetic drug discovery that, as you can see, is already yielding fascinating results."" Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said although type 2 diabetes could be managed with diet and physical activity, the condition was progressive and may require medication to control it effectively.
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