The idea that type 2 diabetes can be reversible has been gaining traction in the research community, but, until now, the mechanisms that drive this remission were unknown. Now, a study carried out by researchers at Yale University in New Haven (USA) has unraveled the mechanism by which caloric restriction leads to the reversal of type 2 diabetes in experiments carried out with mice.
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According to the scientists, just 3 days on a very low-calorie diet ( human level would be less than 800 calories a day ) were enough to reverse markers of type 2 diabetes in diabetic rodents. They restricted calories in the diets of rats that showed the equivalent of all characteristics of type 2 diabetes in humans, which are nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, hyperglycemia, obesity, and hyperinsulinemia (when the amount of insulin in the blood is greater than what is considered normal).
The restricted diets contained a quarter of the normal caloric intake, and the rats were put on this type of diet for 3 days. During that time, the team used a new technique, which they developed themselves, that allowed them to examine a series of metabolic changes that cause the liver to overproduce glucose.
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After 3 days, the animals’ blood glucose levels decreased rapidly . Additionally, they were able to reveal additional details as to why exactly this was happening:
“Using this approach to comprehensively interrogate carbohydrate and fat metabolism, we show that it is a combination of three mechanisms that is responsible for the rapid reversal of hyperglycemia after a very low calorie diet, ” comments Gerald I. Shulman, co-author. of the work published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
Three investment mechanisms
Thus, the researchers found three mechanisms by which this type of diet drastically reduced blood sugar concentrations in rodents:
-The diet slowed the rate at which lactate and amino acids were converted to glucose.
-Slowered the rate at which liver glycogen was converted to glucose.
-Lowering the fat content of the liver, which, in turn, made the liver more sensitive to insulin.
Together, these three mechanisms promoted glucose lowering independently of weight, the authors clarify, as the rodents’ body weight was not affected throughout the study.
However, before declaring that type 2 diabetes is curable, we must find out if this same method would also work in humans , so the next step will be to conduct a human trial.
“Our findings, if translated into humans, would suggest that [these three mechanisms] could be potential therapeutic targets for lowering plasma glucose in those with type 2 diabetes,” explains Rachel J. Perry, a co-author of the study.
As we can see, the research is really promising, but we are still in the data collection stage. If we can get confirmation of success in humans, it will represent a ray of hope for those living with the disease as, until recently, it was thought that type 2 diabetes could only get worse over time or, at best, be treated with appropriate medication.
Reference: Mechanisms by which a Very-Low-Calorie Diet Reverses Hyperglycemia in a Rat Model of Type 2 Diabetes. Rachel J. Perry et al. Cell Metabolism (2017) DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2017.10.004
