Red blood cells lower blood sugar at high altitude, study shows
Feb 22nd 2026
Gladstone Institutes researchers report that under low-oxygen conditions red blood cells switch metabolism to absorb glucose in mice, cutting blood sugar and pointing to a new diabetes strategy.
- A Gladstone-led study published in Cell Metabolism on February 19, 2026 found that in low-oxygen conditions red blood cells in mice absorb large amounts of glucose and reduce blood sugar.
- Imaging showed the missing glucose was taken up by red blood cells rather than by muscle, brain, or liver.
- Under hypoxia red blood cells use glucose to make a molecule that helps them release oxygen to tissues.
- Mice exposed to low oxygen both produced more red blood cells and each cell took up more glucose than under normal oxygen.
- HypoxyStat, a drug developed in the senior author Isha Jain's lab to mimic hypoxia, completely reversed high blood sugar in diabetic mice and outperformed existing medications in those tests.
- The glucose-lowering benefits of chronic hypoxia persisted for weeks to months after mice returned to normal oxygen levels.
- Researchers say the findings could reshape approaches to diabetes treatment and have implications for exercise physiology and trauma-related hypoxia.
- The paper includes authors from Gladstone, University of Maryland, and University of Colorado and was supported by the NIH and several foundations.