Fat a friend of diabetes?

Researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Beth Israel Medical Deaconess Center, in the United States, are trying to develop a potential treatment against diabetes based on a new class of fat molecules that, as they discovered last year, could protect against thisMetabolic disease

The finding, published in the magazine 'Cell' in November and will be described in the Congress of the American Society of Chemistry that will be held in Denver, has opened the way to a new and "unexpected" weapon in the war against type diabetes2.

Specifically, they discovered a new class of lipids, hydroxylated fatty acids (Fahfa), which are at lower levels in those people with insulin resistance, which is a risk factor of type 2 diabetes. In addition, its administrationIn diabetic mice managed to improve glucose metabolism and insulin secretion.

Alan Saghatelian, one of the authors of this finding, has recognized that although there are already some diabetes medications there are still "some lagoons in the knowledge of the causes of the disease."

This expert had been studying insulin resistance for some time, which occurs when the body is not able to respond to the production of this hormone, causing an accumulation of blood glucose.A factor that usually associates with obesity.

Thus, and in collaboration with researcher Barbara Kahn, during her basic research they discovered that they could create obese mice that were unusually sensitive to insulin, and associated it with the presence of different variants of this new fat.

In total they identified 16 different types of hydroxylated fatty acids thanks to a mass spectometry, which could lead to future diabetes treatments.In fact, the presence of this type of fat has been subsequently confirmed in humans and in some common foods, such as apples, broccoli, veal and chicken meat or eggs.

"This means that we have been eating them for a long time and are not toxic," Saghatelian has recognized, which in his opinion shows how their use can be safe as a medication.

However, the authors recognize that the pharmacological use of lipids also raises uncertainties, such as the fact that it is difficult to adjust the most effective dose."The existence of Fahfa proves that there is a metabolic pathway. And the identification of enzymes involved in these processes can provide an even better advantage for medications," he argued.