A pharmaceutical company has donated three Gila monsters to the Tygerberg Zoo near Cape Town to honour the advancements in diabetes care made possible by these lizards.
”Finding homes for Gila monsters all over the world is a modest way of saying thank you to the Gila monster for helping Eli Lilly help people with type-two diabetes control their blood sugar,” Eli Lilly South Africa corporate affairs director Isaac Coker said on Thursday.
Exendin-4 is a hormone found in the saliva of Gila monsters that helps them regulate blood sugar.
Scientists have been able to develop a synthetic form of Exendin-4 into a treatment to help humans with type-two diabetes.
While a treatment containing this synthetic Exendin-4 has been approved and is available to diabetic patients in the United States and a few other countries, it is not yet available in South Africa.
According to Cape Town-based endocrinologist Francois Bonnici, the rising prevalence of type-two diabetes globally — with South Africa not being spared — makes it a major global health issue.
”A totally new class of anti-diabetic agents, the incretin-mimetics, has been shown to be effective in terms of overall reduction in blood glucose, is weight neutral and with a satisfactory safety profile.
”When available in South Africa, this treatment will not replace existing treatments, but will be considered as an additional means to help a higher percentage of our patients reach their therapeutic target,” he said.
The Gila monster (pronounced HEE-la) or Heloderma suspectum is one of only two species of lizard native to the south-western United States and northern Mexico. It is a heavy, slow-moving lizard, up to 60cm long, and the largest lizard native to the US.
Its skin has the appearance of black, pink, orange and yellow beads, laid down in intricate patterns.
Tygerberg Zoo director John Spence said he was delighted with the donation of these beautiful creatures, even more so because of the part they have played in helping people with diabetes. They are a welcome addition to the other rare, endangered and seldom-seen wildlife at the zoo, he said.
The Gila monsters — two males and a female — arrived in South Africa from the US at the end of August and spent a month in compulsory quarantine. — Sapa