Mesobiliverdin IX is an analog of biliverdin which occurs naturally in non-vertebrates and by bacterial transformation of non-conjugated bilirubin in mammals. Biliverdin has been proposed as a treatment for acute and chronic inflammation conditions such as diabetes but until recently it had been limited by scalable production and contamination of other isomers in animal sourced material. Mesobiliverdin is a substrate for bilverdin reductase and has recently been produced in scalable quantities from phycocyanobilin derived from cyanobacteria. Treatment of pancreata with Mesobiliverdin (1-100 µM) increased functional islet production up to 86% over non-treated controls. Transplantation of mesobiliverdin produced islets into STZ inducible diabetic rats lowered non-fasting blood glucose levels in 55% of subjects (22% for control) indicating recovery of insulin-dependant function.
