Originally published September 29 2005
Researchers study insulin's role in obesity, type 2 diabetes
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
According to RxPGnews.com, the high levels of insulin found in many people with obesity and type 2 diabetes may block the hormones that are responsible for triggering the cellular energy releases, which are instead stored as fat in the body, a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine study shows.
Chronically high levels of insulin, as is found in many people with obesity and Type II diabetes, may block specific hormones that trigger energy release into the body, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.
One of the actions of insulin --, the main energy storage hormone, is to block activation of the protein kinase A (PKA) enzyme.
After a meal, insulin levels go up, and the body stores energy primarily as triglycerides, or fat, in adipose tissue to be used later.
When energy is needed, catecholamine triggers activation of PKA, and energy is released.
But in people with Type II diabetes, the hormonal balance has been thrown off, because the body continues to produce and store more triglyceride instead of breaking down the fat as released energy.
"Somehow, insulin knows how to specifically block catecholamine-induced PKA, but not other molecules," said Christopher Hupfeld, assistant professor of Medicine in the UCSD Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and a co-author of the paper.
In order to understand the mechanisms of insulin resistance present in Type II diabetes, the researchers used a new breed of cellular enzyme reporter to track PKA.
The reporter is a "marker" protein, created with special fluorescent tags so that scientists can physically view the protein under a microscope and watch how the live cell activates PKA in real time.
The PKA is normally activated inside the adipocyte cell, the major site of energy storage in the body where many aspects of metabolism are controlled.
"If insulin levels get too high for too long a time -- which happens in many patients with type II diabetes --the normal catecholamine signal that triggers fat breakdown and energy release can be drowned out.
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