Takeda Pharmaceutical Co (4502.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Japan’s biggest drugmaker, said on Friday that U.S. health authorities have not been able to complete a review of a key diabetes drug candidate on schedule due to lack of resources.

The drug, called alogliptin or SYR-322, is critical to Takeda’s mainstay diabetes business as it is expected to be the main replacement for its best-selling Actos.

Couples in which one of the partners is Asian and the other is white have distinct pregnancy-related outcomes when compared with white couples, according to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reuters Health reports. The study, by researchers from Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the university’s School of Medicine, looked at 3,226 Asian couples, 5,575 white couples and 868 couples with a partner of each race who delivered at the hospital from 2000 to 2005 (Reuters Health, 10/1).

A vegan diet may do a better job of reducing cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients than a diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), according to a new study.

Two out of three people with diabetes die of a heart attack or stroke, so reducing cardiovascular disease is a priority. The study was in part funded by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which promotes a vegan diet.

As of 2007, 23.6 million American have diabetes, diagnosed or undiagnosed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 2, the most common form of diabetes, takes place when someone doesn’t produce enough insulin or the cells ignore insulin. Insulin takes glucose from the blood and transports it into cells, providing necessary energy. When insulin doesn’t do its job, glucose builds up in the blood causing many problems including energy-starved cells, blindness, heart attacks and stroke.

Continuous glucose monitoring as part of antenatal care for women with diabetes improves maternal blood glucose control and lowers birth weight and risk of macrosomia* (excessive birth weight in babies), according to a study published on the British Medical Journal website.

During pregnancy it is important that women with diabetes keep their blood glucose under control. If not, there may be an increase in the amount of glucose reaching the baby, which makes the baby grow faster than normal, and may cause difficulties at birth as well as an increased longer term risk of insulin resistance, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Liraglutide, a new drug in the same class as Byetta, cuts blood sugar and lowers weight in a yearlong study of people with early type 2 diabetes.

The FDA has not yet approved liraglutide, although the new findings make eventual approval seem likely. Liraglutide requires once-daily injections. Byetta requires two injections a day, although a once-weekly version is in the works.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness but being too clean could raise your risk of getting diabetes, a new study has suggested.

Researchers in Britain have carried out the study and found that a lack of exposure to bacteria and viruses during childhood may lead to an increased chance of high blood sugar and related diseases.

Friendly bacteria in the gut may protect against insulin-dependent diabetes, a study suggests.

In tests on mice, the bugs appeared to stop the rogue immune response that triggers the disease.

In a dramatic illustration of the potential for microbes to prevent disease, researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago showed that mice exposed to common stomach bacteria were protected against the development of Type I diabetes.

The findings, reported in the journal Nature, support the so-called “hygiene hypothesis” – the theory that a lack of exposure to parasites, bacteria and viruses in the developed world may lead to increased risk of diseases like allergies, asthma, and other disorders of the immune system.

Weekly bouts of moderate aerobic exercise on a bike or treadmill, or a brisk walk, combined with some weightlifting, may cut down levels of fat in the liver by up to 40 percent in people with type 2 diabetes, a study by physical fitness experts at Johns Hopkins shows.

According to researchers, who will present their findings on Sept. 18 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, in Indianapolis, high liver fat levels are common among people with type 2 diabetes and contribute to heart disease risk.