Same Protein Linked To Diabetes & Atherosclerosis
Called aP2, a protein that has no useful function in the body, is not only responsible for type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis, may also be responsible for asthma by regulating inflammation in human lung a new research says.
To study the effects of aP2, the researchers created genetically engineered mice that could not produce the protein. Researchers cannot make them obese, diabetic or atherosclerotic. They don’t develop fatty liver disease, and they don’t develop asthma.
Human trials of aP2-blocking drugs probably won’t be held for another three or four years, said study co-author Dr. Gokhan S. Hotamisligil, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Meanwhile, he and his colleagues are investigating lifestyle interventions that may help reduce aP2 levels. For clues, they’re studying human subjects who carry a rare genetic mutation that makes them produce 50 percent to 60 percent less aP2 than normal. Results of the study could be published within a year, Hotamisligil said.
For now, he said, weight control may be the best strategy for countering the ill effects of aP2. “The most important implication of this research is that it demonstrates a direct link between the pathways that lead to obesity and diabetes and asthma,” he said. “aP2 tends to go along with your weight and the state of your glucose metabolism. So, if you’re overweight and have asthma, losing weight might help your asthma.”
A growing body of research suggests that the obesity and asthma epidemics are related. In March, researchers from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine published research showing an increased risk of asthma in overweight women whose fat cells produce high levels of a hormone called leptin.
Filed under Diabetes
