Employees of the Baltic Federal University conducted a study, which resulted in finding out the role of protein receptors of certain intestinal hormones in the development of diabetes and obesity. The study allows us to better understand why overweight is associated with the development of diabetes and how to deal with it. With their work, scientists spoke at the third International Conference on Obesity and Nutrition Control.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in which the blood glucose level is constantly elevated due to a violation of carbohydrate metabolism. The main reasons for the development of this disease are decreasing in the production of the hormone insulin (type 1 diabetes mellitus) and decreasing in tissue sensitivity to it (type 2 diabetes mellitus). Insulin is formed in the pancreas and reduces the concentration of glucose in the blood plasma, ensuring its absorption by the tissues. With its deficiency, the blood sugar level rises, which affects all body systems – from the gastrointestinal tract to the cardiovascular system. For example, in diabetes mellitus, there is an increased water loss by the kidneys, which can cause dehydration. Micro- and macronutrients leave the body together with water, that play an important role in the transport of nutrients into the cells of tissues .
Many factors play a role in the development of diabetes: low physical activity, obesity, ecology and others. One of the most serious risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus is overweight. According to previous studies, the risk of developing the disease in people with obesity, increases 4 times. But so far, the mechanisms have not yet been clarified, that linking overweight and type 2 diabetes together .
Employees of the Basic Laboratory of Immunology and Cell Biotechnologies of the Baltic Federal University conducted a study in which they found out one of the mechanisms for the development of this dangerous disease. It is associated with receptors of incretins – pancreatic hormones, which are produced when food enters the stomach. The production of these hormones lead to an increase in insulin secretion just to normalize blood glucose levels after a meal. Scientists from the Baltic Federal University found that mutations in the genes that encode the incretin receptors greatly increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
During the study, the researchers analyzed data from 191 patients: 90 people with obesity and type 2 diabetes, and 101 patients with obesity without disease. The researchers also collected data from patients in the control group, which consisted of 137 conditionally healthy people (without diseases associated with impaired carbohydrate metabolism). It turned out that there are five mutations of the genes of incretins receptors, which are statistically related to the development of diabetes.
Replacing one amino acid in the genes encoding the incretin receptors causes changes, that lead to a violation of insulin binding to its receptor in the pancreas. This mechanism plays a significant role in the development of type 2 diabetes.
