Researchers identify ‘dimmer switch’ for Type 2 diabetes

A team of researchers from the University of Alberta, Canada has claimed to have found a ‘dimmer switch’ for type 2 diabetes. This potential game-changer in the research of Type 2 diabetes may open up new horizons in treatment of the disease.

Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90% of all diabetes cases. There are 10 million Canadians living with diabetes or prediabetes. Around 29.1 million in the U.S. have diabetes. In UK, around 2.9 million have diabetes and the number is expected to go up to 5 million by the year 2025. [Read more Type 2 diabetes linked to neurofibrillary tangles found in brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients]

Type 2 diabetes was previously known as non-insulin-dependent Diabetes (NIDDM). In type 2 diabetes either the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin which results in insulin resistance. When the body develops insulin resistance it means that the body is producing insulin, but the sensitivity of the insulin is reduced and it is not doing the job properly which results in build-up of glucose in the blood and the cells starve for glucose which is needed for energy.

Diabetes can be managed by dietary and lifestyle changes. Uncontrolled diabetes may lead to organ damage, blindness, stroke and heart disease. [Read more Encapsulated pancreatic cells could replace injections for diabetes patients]

The research team was led by Patrick MacDonald, associate professor in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

Pancreatic islet cells from 99 human donors were examined by the researchers. They discovered a new molecular pathway that controls the quantity of insulin made by the pancreatic cells. They dubbed it the ‘dimmer switch’ since it manages the production of insulin when blood sugar increases.

According to Prof. MacDonald, the dimmer switch disappears in Type 2 diabetes patients, but it can be turned back on and restore correct control of insulin being secreted from islet cells.

"We don't know enough to stop Type 2 diabetes yet, but this is a large step toward understanding what's going wrong in the first place," said Prof. MacDonald. [Read more Type 2 Diabetes Cure? A SuperLow-Calorie Diet May Be The Answer!]

MacDonald believes that access to the Alberta Diabetes Institute’s Islet Core is the key to his research. The biobank was established with the funding from the Alberta Diabetes Foundation and University of Alberta. For diabetes research, this biobank collects pancreatic islets from organ donors – with or without diabetes from Edmonton and across North America.

"Without access to this critical tissue through the Alberta Diabetes Institute IsletCore and the generosity of organ donors and their families, we would not have been able to carry out this study," said MacDonald. "If we want to learn about diabetes, and how to treat and prevent it, studying the insulin-producing cells from donors with diabetes is a powerful way to do it."

He said, although restoration of ‘dimmer switch’ has been proven on a molecular level, it could take decades to find a way to use it in clinical practice. Despite this, he believes the findings are a step forward in diabetes research. [স্বল্প শর্করাযুক্ত খাদ্য তালিকায় আপনি কি খেতে পারেন?]

The other researchers MacDonald worked with were from MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Texas and Duke University in North Carolina. A team researchers funded by Pfizer also contributed to the 5-year study.

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.