
Inflammation promotes obesity-associated type 2 diabetes and diabetes complications. However, clinical trials with anti-inflammatory drugs have only been modestly effective for treating Type 2 diabetes.
A new fingerprint of inflammation that may be able to predict which patients with obesity may also develop type 2 diabetes has been identified by Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers. This study appears in the journal Obesity and combines basic measures of inflammation in Type 2 diabetes with cutting-edge mathematical analysis to sort through all changes in inflammatory proteins and rank the changes from most to least important in an unbiased manner.
The researchers quantified inflammatory proteins from blood immune system cells and combined the measurements mathematically to identify dominant inflammatory proteins. Specifically, they identified Th17 cells, known to be involved in autoimmune diseases, as a dominant cell type in Type 2 diabetes.
According to the researchers proteins that make up this fingerprint are also considered drug targets for future studies aimed at preventing the development of Type 2 diabetes in people with obesity.
Source: Eurekalert
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