There's no doubt that a lot of people would say, perhaps a little hyperbolically, that rock and roll saved their lives. Now, new research has shown that the music just might be able to serve as a literal life saver for diabetics.
In the United States alone, over 37 million people have diabetes, a condition wherein the body produces little to no insulin. Subsequently, diabetic patients must supplement the hormone, usually with injections which can be painful and a hassle to travel with. As a result, researchers have been seeking out alternative methods to boosting insulin levels in people with the condition. Earlier this year, we saw research that may lead to an ingestible form of insulin, and previous studies have shown approaches ranging from a teabag-like implantable device to cheek patches that can deliver the hormone.
None of those approaches are quite as eyebrow-raising as a new study out of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH Zurich), however. Researchers there harvested a protein from E. coli bacteria that controls the flow of calcium ions into the bacteria's inner cellular material. They then incorporated that protein into human insulin cells which equipped the cells with the ion passageway. Next, they learned that when exposed to sound, these designer cells would allow positively charged calcium ions to enter, which forced the insulin they contained to fuse with the membrane and then release to the outside, where they could be distributed to the body.
While some researchers might have stopped at using some kind of boring tone-generating machine to get the cells to do their insulin-releasing routine, the Zurich team took a much more rock-and-roll next step: they, um, used rock and roll.
All about that bass
The team knew that the ion channels were most effectively operated when exposed to volumes in the 60 decibel (dB) range and with bass frequencies of 50 hertz. They also found that for the most insulin release to take place, the sound had to play for no less than three seconds and pause for no more than five seconds.
So, they implanted the designer cells in mice and put the rodents on top of a speaker with their bellies down. They then played a range of songs from different genres and charted their impacts. Bass-heavy rock music triggered the best response, with Queen's "We Will Rock You" releasing about 70% of the insulin in five minutes, and all of it within 15 minutes. The track was played at a dB level of 85, which is about the level most people set their stereos to at home. The soundtrack to Marvel's film, The Avengers, came in a strong second. Music with less bass, such as classical and instrumental guitar tracks, had a much weaker impact.
In order to trigger the insulin release, the implanted designer cells had to be placed directly atop the sound source. Experiments showed no effect for earbuds or headphones. Also, ambient noise had no effect on the cells, which is a built-in safety feature of the design, as it could be dangerous for patients to have insulin released into their bodies from loud noises in their environments.
For now, the researchers are thinking of this experiment as proof of concept. They say that any type of sound-triggered insulin-release system is still a long way off, and would take commercial interest to get off the ground. The scientists also point out that the finding could be applicable to other types of cells to treat a range of conditions.
The findings have been published in the journal, The Lancet.
Source: ETH Zurich
