'Fats' may help treat type 2 diabetes

A new research has discovered that fats were a 'new weapon' in the war against type 2 diabetes and play an important role to treat it.

Alan Saghatelian, Ph.D at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies with Barbara Kahn, M.D. conducted the research and found a new class of potentially therapeutic lipids, called fatty-acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (FAHFAs), found in people with insulin resistance. The FAHFAs when administered to diabetic mice improved their glucose metabolism and insulin secretion, and opened an avenue for the development of novel medications for the disease.

Kahn's team at Beth Israel Medical Deaconess Center found that they could create obese mice that were unusually sensitive to insulin and suspected that the lipids found in them were behind it. The research on these newly discovered fats could lead to a diabetes therapy.

Using the mass spectrometry technique, researchers identified a total of 16 different types of FAHFAs in the mice.

The lipids were fed to insulin- resistant mice and it was observed that there had been an improvement in inflammation, insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake.

The researchers also measured FAHFA levels in the blood samples from human subjects, and found lower levels of these compounds in those with insulin resistance.

Saghatelian said that they would be able to come up with better therapies to treat the disease with fewer side effects and that would be effective to a large number of people.

The research would be described recently at the 249th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).