High Level Of Blood Protein (Fetuin) Can Cause Type 2 Diabetes Among The Aged People
The Journal of the American Medical Association, has reported the study that suggests rising level of fetuin, a blood protein can lead to type 2 diabetes. The study, done by the researchers at the University of California, San Diego have found that the older people with highest level of fetuin, are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with lower levels. The study also finds that interventions to fight diabetes, such as healthy diet and exercise, can be difficult to accomplish on a wide scale.
The exact cause of type 2 diabetes, however, still remains elusive. For example, being overweight is a significant risk factor for developing the disease, but not everyone who’s overweight or obese will become diabetic. Fetuin-A is a protein secreted by liver cells that may play a role in insulin resistance — the precursor to type 2 diabetes.
It is worthwhile to mention that the Fetuins are blood proteins, which are made in the liver and secreted into the blood stream. They belong to a large group of binding proteins mediating the transport and availability of a wide variety of cargo substances in the blood stream. The best known representative of these carrier proteins is serum albumin, the most abundant protein in the blood plasma of adult animals. Fetuin is more abundant in fetal blood, hence the name fetuin (from lat. fetus). Fetal calf serum contains more fetuin than albumin, while adult serum contains more albumin than fetuin.
The current study included 406 people between 70 and 79 years old, all of who had their fetuin-A levels measured at the beginning of the study. At the time, none of them had diabetes. Six years later, 135 of the study participants had developed diabetes. The team of the researchers adjusted the data to account for other known diabetes risk factors, such as age, physical activity levels, body mass, and more. The association between diabetes and fetuin-A remained, except for when the researchers controlled for abdominal fat.
This study suggests that there are factors coming from the liver that might control glucose, and there’s a chance that this might ultimately lead to new treatments and screening strategies.
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), almost 21 million Americans now have diabetes. Most of them have the type 2 form of the disease, which is often linked to obesity. People with type 2 diabetes either don’t produce enough insulin, or their bodies become desensitized to insulin and can’t effectively use it. Untreated, diabetes can lead to a number of complications, including heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and more, according to the ADA.
Source:USNews
