LATE-ONSET diabetes鈥攚hich is associated with obesity鈥攁ffects more
than 100 million people. The primary treatment is through diet, but researchers
now say they have found a potential target for new drugs.
Bradford Lowell and his colleagues at the Harvard Medical School in Boston
have found that lowering levels of a protein called UCP2 in obese, diabetic
mice, made them produce more insulin and improved their glucose metabolism
(Cell, vol 105, p 745). The team thinks UCP2 levels rise in response to blood
fats, and this in turn reduces the ability of the pancreas to detect blood
sugar. Drugs that inhibit the protein could help treat the condition.