Sea cucumbers are a marine delicacy loved across Asia, but the common-or-garden sea cucumber can also be proving to be a key ingredient in stopping diabetes, in accordance with recent research from the University of South Australia.
Sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra). Image Credit: University of South Australia
Exploring the medicinal properties of sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra), researchers found that processed dried sea cucumber with salt extracts can inhibit a compound that’s related to increased risk of diabetes, thereby reducing the likelihood of the disease.
To this point, there is no such thing as a commercially available therapeutic agent to inhibit the formation of this compound, called Advanced Glycation End product (AGE).
AGEs form when proteins and/or fats mix with sugars within the bloodstream. When gathered in high levels, they increase diabetic complications, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, kidney disease, and cancer.
Lead researcher, UniSA’s Dr Permal Deo, says understanding how the bioactive compounds in sea cucumbers can inhibit AGEs could protect against these diseases.
We all know that an accumulation of AGEs is related to complications of type 2 diabetes, so strategies to stop this will reduce the chance of developing diabetic complications.
Biologically energetic novel compounds in medicinal plants and foods are potential therapeutic agents to stop diabetic complications.
Sea cucumbers are known to have a variety of therapeutic properties, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, so we desired to explore their bioactive compounds as AGE inhibitors.
We found that processed dried sea cucumber with salt extracts and collagen can significantly inhibit AGEs by lowering a variety of sugar related metabolites within the body and reducing the chance of diabetes.”
Dr Permal Deo, Lead Researcher, UniSA
In Australia, almost 1.3 million people have type 2 diabetes. Globally, about 422 million people have diabetes, with 1.5 million deaths directly attributed to the disease annually.
Almost 60 per cent of all cases of type 2 diabetes might be delayed or prevented with changes to weight loss program and lifestyle.
“These results provide sound evidence that sea cucumbers might be developed as a functional food product to assist battle the onset of diabetes and diabetic-complications.”
Source:
University of South Australia
Journal reference:
Wong, H. Y., et al. (2023) Holothuria scabra Jaegar 1833 (Sandfish) extracts and collagens modulate protein-bound Nε-carboxymethyllysine, Nε-carboxyethyllysine and methylglyoxal-derived hydroimidazolone-1 levels. International Journal of Food Science & Technology. doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.16341.