A study suggests problems with cholesterol regulation in the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas may be responsible for the development of Type 2 diabetes.
A thesis paper written by a graduate student, Dr. Liam Brunham, addressed the fact that a dysfunction in cholesterol regulation is found in beta cells in the pancreas. A thought-provoking connection to this thesis was the fact that beta cells are the cells responsible for producing insulin. A beta cell expert decided to see what would happen if researchers genetically engineered mice without the ABCA1 gene. The ABCA1 gene is the gene responsible for cholesterol regulation in beta cells. Dr. Brunham appears to be the first to identify the role of cholesterol dysfunction resulting in the beta cells inability to properly secrete insulin.
This new research is promising and obviously raises questions in other researcher's minds. One is - what happens when amylin, a hormone produced by the beta cells, builds up to excess amounts? Does this, in fact, impair the beta cells' ability to function properly? Could this be another thesis that trumps Dr. Brunham's hunch for the cause of type 2 diabetes? Some researchers believe that the over-production of amylin and cholesterol may be due to a yet unidentified problem. Of course that is always an option. Science labs across the world could come to a screeching halt if doctor's stopped hypothesizing. As research continues, we will anxiously await the next best thesis paper, courtesy of our promising Graduate Students. Be cool - stay in school!
1. You raise an interesting point about whether excessive amylin impairs the beta cells' ability to function properly in patients with type 2 diabetes. Until recently, the role of amylin in glucose homeostasis was assumed to be largely irrelevant -- largely thanks to Amylin Pharmaceuticals. However, that has since been proven to be incorrrect, and more recently, we have also seen evidence that C-Peptide is not a biological waste product used only in the synthesis of insulin, but actually plays a role in keeping blood vessels (especially microvascular) flexible therefore the absence leaves patients with type 1 diabetes vulnerable in spite of managing blood glucose levels. A Swedish company called Creative Peptides is now working on commercialization of that.
Posted at 11:21AM on Feb 20th 2007 by Scott