Researchers have concluded that free fatty acids in the blood are responsible forthe occurrence of type 2 diabetescould be responsible. Their study shows that these trigger insulin release even at normal blood sugar levels, without any obvious, uncompensated insulin resistance in fat cells. In addition, the study authors show a connection between diabetes and obesity. The amount of these fatty acids largely depends on how much fatty tissue a person carries. However, it is also crucial how the body adapts to being overweight.
Free fatty acids as new biomarkers for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes
It's still not entirely clear what happens to the body in type 2 diabetes and why obesity is such a big risk factor for the disease. The prevailing hypothesis is that the pancreas increases its insulin production. This is because the cells have already developed insulin resistance and blood sugar then rises. However, the current results support the opposite idea: it is insulin that increases first. The study shows that free fatty acids in the blood increase after the rapid nighttime increase in insulin production in the morning. These have long been part of the main research equation for type 2 diabetes. However, scientists now suspect that they also play another role: in the progression of diabetes.
The study participants who were obese but not diabetic had the same normal blood sugar levels as healthy people of normal weight. The fact that researchers saw a connection between free fatty acids and insulin suggests that the fatty acids are related to insulin release and contribute to increased insulin production on an empty stomach when blood sugar has not risen. Free fatty acids occur naturally in the blood and, like glycerin, are a product of the body's fat metabolism. The amount of glycerine released proved to be largely the same in the test subjectsper kilo of body fat, regardless of whether they had normal weight, just obesity or also type 2 diabetes.
According to the study authors, free fatty acids in the blood increase because the fatty tissue can no longer store the excess energy. They believe that in this case this could be an early sign of early type 2 diabetes. If the results show the same thing through other research methods, there is a possibility that certain fatty acids serve as biomarkers.This studyprovides another argument that lifestyle changes should be made early in the course of the disease, before blood sugar is increased.
