Joslin researchers show how one form of the rare inherited disease known as mature onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is driven by mutated digestive enzymes generated in pancreatic exocrine cells that are then taken up by neighboring insulin-secreting beta cells.
Joslin discovery about exosomes (cell fragments that regulate other cells) may help to advance RNA gene therapies for many diseases.
Insulin resistance in the general population seems likely to be caused by a series of cell-specific signaling defects some of which appear to be sex-specific. In addition, only a portion of the defects are shared with those seen in diabetes, pointing towards the existence of novel pathways behind insulin resistance in the general population. According to researchers, this could also be the starting point for new therapeutics to tackle insulin resistance, which is the major driver of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome and is present in 20-30% of the general population in the United States.
Elevated levels of three specific circulating proteins are associated with protection against kidney failure in diabetes, according to research from the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.
Scientists are rapidly gathering evidence that variants of gut microbiomes, the collections of bacteria and other microbes in our digestive systems, may play harmful roles in diabetes and other diseases.
A new source of energy expending brown fat cells has been uncovered by researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center, which they say points towards potential new therapeutic options for obesity. According to the new report, published in Nature Metabolism >on 12 March 2021, the key lies in the expression of a receptor called Trpv1 (temperature-sensitive ion channel transient receptor potential cation subfamily V member 1) -- a protein known to sense noxious stimuli, including pain and temperature.
BOSTON – (March 25, 2021) – A mechanism has been identified that explains how physical exercise in pregnancy confers metabolic health benefits in offspring. According to researchers, the key lies with a protein called SOD3, vitamin D and adequate exercise, with the outcomes possibly forming the first steps to designing rational diet and exercise programs to use during pregnancy and particularly when mothers may also be overweight or obese.
In older people with type 1 diabetes, damage to the retina may be linked to memory problems and other cognitive conditions.BOSTON – (December 31, 2020) – As they age, people with diabetes are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders than are people without diabetes. Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center now have shown that routine eye imaging can identify changes in the retina that may be associated with cognitive disorders in older people with type 1 diabetes.
BOSTON – (December 16, 2020) – Intensive interventions to reduce blood glucose and blood pressure levels in type 2 diabetes reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN), a frequent but underdiagnosed complication of diabetes that can be life-threatening. In a study led by Alessandro Doria , MD, PhD, MPH, from the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School, and Rodica Pop Busui, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan, published online in Diabetes Care , researchers found that intensive glycemic control reduced CAN risk by 17%, while intensive blood pressure control reduced risks by 22%.
A lipid metabolite called 12,13-diHOME has been identified in human breast milk and appears to be associated with beneficial infant weight gain and body Study suggests that when new mothers exercise, they likely improve newborn’s longer term metabolic health.
Researchers have developed a novel ‘disease-in-a-dish’ model to study the basic molecular factors that lead to the development of type 2 diabetes, uncovering the potential existence of major signaling defects both inside and outside of the classical insulin signaling cascade, and providing new perspectives on the mechanisms behind insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes and possibly opportunities for the development of novel therapeutics for the disease.
A potential therapy for obesity would transplant HUMBLE (human brown-like) fat cells, human white fat cells that have been genetically modified using CRISPR to become similar to heat-generating brown fat cells.
Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that some benefits of aerobic exercise may be dampened by higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, and that this is independent of obesity and insulin levels in the blood.
Largest US database of pregnant women with type 1 diabetes provides a first-time, big picture view of mother’s health, and neonatal and delivery outcomes. The analysis found a threefold increase in insulin pump use at the end of the study period, compared to the start of the study, but A1c levels remained steady across the 13-year period. Over time the study showed a trend toward pre-pregnancy obesity and unhealthy maternal weight gain.
Historically, half or more of people with type 1 diabetes develop kidney disease, which frequently progresses to kidney failure requiring hemodialysis or a kidney transplant for survival. Progression of kidney disease in type 1 diabetes is correlated with increased amounts of uric acid. A multi-institution randomized clinical trial of a drug used to control uric acid did not show the desired clinical benefits, but did give a very clear answer to an important scientific question.
Fewer than one in five adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes are successful in achieving the recommended 2019 A1C goal of below 7.5%, and the overwhelming majority fail to achieve the 2020 target of less than 7%. But young people who use continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices can significantly improve their overall blood glucose control, without increasing severe low or high glucose levels, according to findings from a 6-month, multi-center clinical trial. And both severe hypoglycemia (low glucose) and hyperglycemia (high glucose) can lead to emergency care and hospitalization.
This study provides a wealth of new data showing how beta cells behave at slightly raised levels of blood glucose - still within the pre-diabetes range. The work provides major additional evidence of a “glucose toxicity” effect that helps to drive the development of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Fatty liver disease not associated with alcohol consumption, which is called Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or NAFLD, affects more than one billion people worldwide. Even in children the numbers are overwhelming, with up to 80 percent of pediatric patients who are considered obese affected worldwide. People with NAFLD can progress to a severe form known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which puts patients at higher risk for cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There's a higher case fatality rate in type 1 than type 2 diabetes, which suggests different mechanisms for heart failure might be involved in type 1 diabetes.” Given the burden of heart failure in type 1 diabetes, the early identification of patients at particular risk is of importance.
Joslin researchers have found a pathway that can boost the production of (heat-generating, fat-burning) brown fat cells without also creating unhelpful white fat cells. This finding suggests that the pathway the Joslin team uncovered might offer a solution to that challenge.
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