Protein link to insulin resistance

A lack of protein is part of the cause of type 2 diabetes

The resistance to insulin seen in type 2 diabetics is caused partly by the lack of a protein that has not previously been associated with diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90% of cases of diabetes around the world and people affected by the disease have soared as the number of people classed as obese have rocketed.

Dr Alexey Pshezhetsky of the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center in Montreal, has discovered the resistance to insulin seen in type 2 diabetics is caused partly by the lack of a protein Neu1.

“This turns the absorption of sugar ‘on’ or ‘off’ in body cells, by regulating the amount of sialic acid on the surface of cells”, said Pshezhetsky.

The results of his study on cells and mice were published in the journal Diabetes.