A new target for diabetes

Obesity and Type 2 diabetes are strongly associated, but the biochemical basis had not been identified. A protein called resistin that is secreted by fat cells may be that link. New work by University of Pennsylvania researchers shows that resistin decreases insulin sensitivity, a hallmark of diabetes.

The mechanism by which obesity promotes the insulin resistance that characterizes Type 2 diabetes has been thought to be via free fatty acids in the bloodstream. But fat cells (adipocytes), besides being a place to store fat, secrete a number of peptides that might lead to the complications of obesity, including leptin, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), and free fatty acids as well as resistin...