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Interfering with vagal nerve activity in mice prevents diabetes and hypertension

02-06-2007 · EurekAlert!

Interrupting nerve signals to the liver can prevent diabetes and hypertension in mice, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The finding is reported in the February issue of the journal Cell Metabolism. The research team surgically removed the vagus nerve in mice and found the procedure prevented or reversed the development of insulin resistance and high blood pressure in mice primed to develop these disorders through treatment with glucocorticoids.

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Keywords: interfering, vagal, nerve, activity, mice, prevents, diabetes, hypertension, prevent, diabete

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For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. 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