Type 2 Diabetes occurs when the body either does not make enough insulin or becomes resistant to insulin, preventing it from storing sugar thus increasing the body's sugar levels to beyond what is normal and healthy. There are currently more than 194 million people with diabetes worldwide, according to the International Diabetes Federation, and if nothing is done to slow the epidemic, the number will exceed 333 million by 2025.
Experts have long cited growing incidence of obesity as the trigger for the rise in diabetes but this new study is the first to link a hormone with blood sugar levels.
The study, published in this month's Journal of Endocrinology, found that diabetes in obese mice requires a hormone known as MSH, which is made by the POMC gene that is found in both mice and humans. The study found that obese mice without the MSH hormone were obese but did not develop diabetes. Administration of the MSH hormone to these mice increased resistance to insulin and directly affected blood sugar levels. Therefore, MSH may be a factor in the development of type 2 diabetes.
"Our findings show that obese people with high levels of the hormone MSH may be more likely to be diabetic than obese people with low levels of the MSH hormone," explained the study's lead author Miles B. Brennan, from the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute at the University of Denver in the US. "While we knew that there was a connection between obesity and diabetes, this is the first time that the link between the hormone MSH and blood sugar levels has been established."
The study could lead to testing the MSH hormone levels in obese individuals which would allow doctors to better prevent the onset of diabetes if the levels are too high.
Aina ya 2 ya kisukari hutokea wakati mwili hauwezi kutengeneza insulini ya kutosha au unapokuwa na upinzani wa insulini, na hivyo kuzuia kuhifadhi sukari, na hivyo kuongeza viwango vya sukari ya mwili zaidi ya kawaida na afya. Kwa sasa kuna watu zaidi ya milioni 194 wenye ugonjwa wa kisukari duniani kote, kulingana na Shirikisho la Kimataifa la Kisukari, na ikiwa hakuna kinachofanywa kupunguza janga hilo, idadi hiyo itafikia zaidi ya milioni 333 ifikapo 2025. Wataalamu wamekuwa wakisema kuwa kuongezeka kwa idadi ya watu wenye uzani mzito ndio kisababishi cha kuongezeka kwa ugonjwa wa kisukari, lakini utafiti huu mpya ni wa kwanza kuunganisha homoni na kiwango cha sukari ya damu. Utafiti huo uliochapishwa katika jarida la Journal of Endocrinology, uligundua kuwa ugonjwa wa kisukari katika panya wanene unahitaji homoni inayojulikana kama MSH, ambayo hutengenezwa na jeni la POMC, ambalo linapatikana kwa panya na wanadamu. Utafiti huo uligundua kwamba panya wenye uzito mzito ambao hawakuwa na homoni ya MSH walikuwa na uzito mzito lakini hawakuweza kuugua ugonjwa wa kisukari. Utoaji wa homoni ya MSH kwa panya hizi uliongeza upinzani kwa insulini na kuathiri moja kwa moja viwango vya sukari ya damu. Kwa hiyo, MSH inaweza kuwa sababu ya kuendeleza ugonjwa wa kisukari wa aina ya 2. "Utafiti huo unaonyesha kuwa watu wenye uzito wa juu na viwango vya juu vya homoni MSH wana uwezekano mkubwa wa kuwa na ugonjwa wa kisukari kuliko watu wenye uzito wa juu na viwango vya chini vya homoni MSH, ""Miles Brennan, mwandishi mkuu wa utafiti, kutoka Taasisi ya Eleanor Roosevelt katika Chuo Kikuu cha Denver, alisema." "Wakati tulijua kwamba kulikuwa na uhusiano kati ya unene wa mwili na kisukari, hii ni mara ya kwanza kwamba uhusiano kati ya homoni MSH na viwango vya sukari ya damu imeanzishwa. """ Utafiti huo unaweza kuongoza kwa kupima viwango vya homoni ya MSH katika watu wanene ambao wataruhusu madaktari kuzuia vizuri mwanzo wa kisukari ikiwa viwango ni vya juu sana.