High blood sugar and frailty can be reversed in obesity-related diabetes: Study
Researchers at Monash University has have found in a new study that liver metabolism is disrupted in people with obesity-related type 2 diabetes, which contributes to high blood sugar and muscle loss - also known as skeletal muscle atrophy.
Using human trials as well as mouse models, collaborative research led by Dr Adam Rose at Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute has found the liver metabolism of the amino acid alanine is altered in people with obesity-related type 2 diabetes. By selectively silencing enzymes that break down alanine in liver cells, high blood sugar and muscle loss can be reversed by the restoration of skeletal muscle protein synthesis, a critical determinant of muscle size and strength.
The research has been published today in Nature Metabolism.
The findings of the study have revealed that the altered liver metabolism directly affects muscle size and strength and the mechanism behind this is driven by elevated levels of the hormones cortisol and glucagon which enhance the cycling of amino acids between liver and skeletal muscle, causing muscles to become smaller and weaker.
Along with metabolic dysfunction and related complications, an often overlooked co-morbidity of obesity is skeletal muscle atrophy, which causes frailty, and is related to reduced life-quality and death.
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