Metabolic Industries - Metabolic Activation Therapy

MAT^® treatment, formerly known as Metabolic activation therapy, consists of once-weekly treatment sessions of 6 hours of programmed intermittent intravenous insulin therapy, together with oral glucose. This treatment was designed by Dr. Thomas T. Aoki to mimic/enhance the effects of natural insulin secretion.

A MAT^® treatment session involves the use of a complex patented methodology to administer high dose intravenous insulin and glucose under the direction of a physician who is trained in MAT^® treatment. Treatment sessions are conducted in a physician's office or clinic. Patients can relax in lounge chairs and can read, watch TV, sleep, conduct business, do homework during the procedure. They can also move about the clinic at times during the procedure.

During the remainder of the week, the patient follows the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommended regimen for their particular type of diabetes. For example, patients who are using four insulin injections per day, usually remain on four injections per day. Those on oral medication, remain on oral medication.

MAT^® treatment is currently recommended as an outpatient therapy for those individuals (with either Type 1 or Type 2) who have not been able to achieve good control (despite their best efforts) or who, despite "good control", are experiencing the complications of diabetes. Traditionally, these are situations in which the physician has no other additional therapy to offer the patient.

The primary purpose of MAT^® treatment is not good glucose control, but rather an improvement in the altered aspects of biochemistry/physiology that are responsible for diabetic complications. Because it is a unique programmed infusion of insulin consisting of specific pulses, a MAT^® treatment achieves a different metabolic effect than that seen with intravenous drip insulin infusion or with subcutaneous insulin (either by syringe or wearable insulin pump). Because the MAT^® treatment acts by a different mechanism than routine insulin therapy, a series of MAT^® treatments achieves benefits not seen with mere glucose control. And often, because MAT^® treatments improves hypoglycemia unawareness, the patients are able to achieve better glucose control as well.

It is important to understand that MAT^® treatments are an adjunct therapy, not a replacement for intensive insulin therapy. It is also important to understand that the metabolic improvements seen with MAT^® treatment are temporary, just as the effects of any medication are generally temporary. To maintain and optimize this improved metabolic state over the long term, weekly MAT^® treatments are required.

Published reports regarding MAT^® treatment refer to it by several names such as "chronic intermittent intravenous insulin therapy (CIIIT)" or "pulsatile intravenous insulin therapy (PIVIT)" to emphasize the nature of the procedure. Originally, MAT^® treatment was called "hepatic activation" because it improves glucose oxidation in the liver. Later studies suggested MAT^® treatment also improves glucose metabolism throughout the body and the description "metabolic activation therapy" seemed more suitable. Despite the confusion caused by many names, all the published studies (see Research) utilized Dr. Aoki's procedure, now called MAT^® treatment. One caveat, other companies apparently claimed to have an identical therapy with names like "pulse insulin therapy" (PIT), "pulsatile therapy", cellular activation therapy (CAT), or intracellular activation therapy (ICAT). Despite many names and claims by others, there is only one procedure that achieves the results described in the published clinical studies and that is MAT^® treatment.