Australian scientists have discovered a chemical compound which acts as a ''saviour'' for dying insulin cells in Type2 diabetics, offering new hope in combating the disease.

The ''chemical chaperone'' has been found to stop cells that make insulin in the pancreas from dying off, as they do in people with Type2, or lifestyle, diabetes. The breakthrough, shown in the laboratory at the Garvan Institute in Sydney, is yet to be tested on humans, but researchers behind it say it is a promising development to help combat a fast-growing disease.

Project leader Professor Ross Laybutt, whose research is published in the journal Diabetes, said, ''What we have found here could have major benefit as a therapy for Type2 diabetes.

''It's a very exciting development in the diabetes field.''

The researchers made their discovery while investigating the cell death in the two types of diabetes Type1, an auto-immune condition which usually starts in childhood, and Type2, a metabolic disorder usually affecting adults and connected to lifestyle. More than 80per cent of Australia's 700,000 diabetics have the second form of the disease.

The two diseases are very different, but in both cases the insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas die. ''We thought that the processes leading to beta cell death were similar in both diseases, but we've found they're actually very different,'' Professor Laybutt said.

The team tested a chemical compound called PBA, which is known to help insulin form properly, on the cells under the conditions of diabetes.

The compound did not stop cell death in Type1 diabetes, but it did in Type2, Professor Laybutt said.

''This suggests we have a potential therapeutic target for slowing down or delaying beta cell death in people with this form of the condition.'' The compound has already been approved in the US for use in a genetic blood disorder, and tests have already shown it to be beneficial in diabetic mice. ''We hope it can be fast-tracked for use in humans. Naturally, we would want to test it further on animals before conducting clinical trials on people,'' Professor Laybutt said. AAP