New alert for diabetes treatment: too much insulin leads to obesity

New research has revealed that high insulin levels contribute to obesity and its complications - a finding that may have important implications for the treatment of diabetes.

Researchers from the University of Texas, who made the discovery by studying mice engineered to lack receptors for a hormone called glucagon, which spurs the liver's production of glucose into the bloodstream and thus maintains fuel supply for the brain.

The study displayed that insulin blocked the secretion of glucagon, opposed glucagon action on the liver, and instructed the body to take up glucose from the blood. Hence, Type 2 diabetics could not respond properly to insulin and had uncontrolled glucagon production, thereby causing their livers to overproduce glucose, contributing to high blood-sugar levels.

Corresponding author Dr Michael Roth said that they found that mice lacking the receptor for glucagon could not get fat unless they were given the high levels of insulin found in mice (and humans) that had Type 2 diabetes, which suggested that the high levels of insulin found in those who develop insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes fostered processes that led to obesity.

The work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.