Diabetes breakthrough for Maynooth team

Researchers at Maynooth University may have discovered a way to switch off the development of Type 2 diabetes in people who are overweight. It blocks a form of inflammation that leads to the disease.

Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of diabetes, a condition where the body can't properly regulate sugar levels in the blood.

Ireland, in common with many western countries, has a growing diabetes problem driven by increased obesity. An estimated 225,000 people in the country have Type 2 diabetes.

The research team, led by Prof Paul Moynagh, Maynooth University's professor of immunology, uncovered the process that sees inflammation caused by obesity gradually leading to diabetes.

“Obesity drives a lot of diseases and the key to them is inflammation,” he said.

His group identified a protein in the body called Pellino3 that may be able to block inflammation.

“We have been collaborating with St Vincent’s Hospital to look at the fat tissues of obese and lean subjects, and the level of this protein was greatly reduced in obese people while levels were very high in lean people,” Prof Moynagh said.

“This protein suppresses the inflammation that is normally triggered by obesity. We think this is why we see this protective effect.”

Understanding this process would have major implications for new treatments. “We are looking to see why the level of the protein is reduced and how it is broken down in obesity. If we understand why it is reduced we might be able to bring it back to normal levels to see if it can suppress the inflammation.”

They have been tracking down the mechanism for this over the past three years with funding from Science Foundation Ireland.

They published their findings in the journal Immunity.

Their work is directly applicable to diabetes but could also help understand other diseases linked to inflammation.

“My hope is that we can now build on this research and attempt to understand how we may be able to control or manipulate the Pellino3 protein as a method of preventing diabetes among those at risk,” Prof Moynagh said.