It has long been recognized that people who live at high altitudes are less likely to have blood sugar concerns. However, until new research, the reason was unknown.
Researchers from Gladstone Institutes discovered that red blood cells are glucose sponges in low-oxygen situations. Red blood cells’ metabolism changes at high altitude to pull more sugar from the bloodstream. That helps the cells efficiently deliver oxygen to the organs and tissues of the body. It also lowers blood sugar.
“Red blood cells represent a hidden compartment of glucose metabolism that has not been appreciated until now,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Isha Jain. “This discovery could open up entirely new ways to think about controlling blood sugar.”
Dr. Jain has been studying blood sugar for years. In a previous study, her team saw that mice breathing low-oxygen air had lower blood sugar than normal. Even when they fed the mice sugar, it disappeared “almost immediately.” They saw the organs weren’t using it despite being “all the usual suspects.”
With imaging, they saw that the red blood was absorbing the sugar. Moreover, the mice produced more red blood cells to absorb even more sugar. Previously, red blood cells were considered too simple to be the driving force behind the lower blood sugar. Even when mice went back to normal levels of oxygen, their red blood cells absorbed extra sugar for weeks.
The researchers also gave mice with blood sugar concerns a new drug that mimics hypoxia, or low oxygen levels in the body. The drug reversed their blood sugar concerns.
As it’s an animal study, it’s hard to tell how this research will impact humans. The researchers hope it could prevent or even reverse blood sugar concerns. But animal studies don’t always translate directly to human results. The discovery needs to be seen outside of mice to confirm it.
“What surprised me most was the magnitude of the effect,” said study collaborator Dr. Angelo D’Alessandro. “Red blood cells are usually thought of as passive oxygen carriers. Yet, we found that they can account for a substantial fraction of whole-body glucose consumption, especially under hypoxia.”
“This is just the beginning,” said Dr. Jain. “There’s still so much to learn about how the whole body adapts to changes in oxygen, and how we could leverage these mechanisms to treat a range of conditions.”
