>Scientists found that Gila monsters have a hormone called exendin-4 in their salivary glands,

Great product but its a shame they are playing silly buggers with the evolutionary history of the compound. It is from the VENOM gland not a SALIVA gland. The company knows this full-well but are trying to say it is from the saliva rather than the venom, thinking that this is more PR friendly. It really makes no difference where it comes from just so long as it works (which it does in this case).

>which increases the production of insulin when blood sugar levels rise after a huge meal and slows the emptying of its stomach so its pancreas and liver do not become overloaded with the sudden intake of food.

This part is completely wrong. There is a rise in a plasma of a related peptide, but one that is secreted from the pancreas and intestine. They are not using that version, they are using the version from the venom gland that is part of a large toxin multigene family, some of which are potentially cardiotoxic. It is a toxin but a useful one.

::sigh:: all press releases like this one do is promote confusion.

Cheers
B
-----
Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
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Department of Biochemistry,
Bio21 Institute,
University of Melbourne
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http://www.venomdoc.com

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