Thematic Issue: Diabetes 2019
November 2019
Read our special collection of journal articles focused on diabetes! These were published in 2018 and 2019, with curation guided by Altmetric Attention Score and Featured Article designation.
Insulin sensitivity and lipids are key in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), with genetics strongly involved. One study (Srinivasan et al.) analyzes a polygenic lipodystrophy score that correlates with poor improvement in insulin sensitivity. A review in Endocrine Reviews (Udler et al.) provides a broader view of sequence variants linked to diabetes.
Other articles look at diabetes pathology. Another review (Di Pino and DeFronzo) discusses the flip side of insulin sensitivity, insulin resistance, which is associated with cardiovascular risk. A long-term study of body-weight variability in JCEM (Oh et al.) finds that it is associated with diabetes incidence, but in a complex way.
A mini-review in Journal of the Endocrine Society (Ye et al.) discusses secondary effects of lipotoxicity on beta cells, while a review in Endocrine Reviews (Albrechtsen et al.) explores complex links between T2D and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Another mini-review (Thomas et al.) gives an overview of factors associated with hyperinsulinemia, with a focus on racial and ethnic differences. Ruiz et al. discuss in Endocrinology advanced glycation end products as contributors to insulin resistance. Agarwal et al. provide evidence bearing on the question of how gestational diabetes affects islets in offspring in rats.
Diabetes affects bone, but a UK study (Vavanikunnel et al.) finds that the risk of low-trauma fracture is increased by poor glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) yet not those with T2D. A case-control study (Chen et al.) documents abnormalities in bone formation in children with T1D and detects benefits of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, aka insulin pumps.
T1D patients increasingly have access to pumps in many places, but their use is a challenge. An Endocrine Reviews article (Lal et al.) describes emerging closed-loop control systems that would simplify the lives of patients and reduce complications. Progress on a different approach, pancreatic islet transplantation, is explored in the article by Rickels and Robertson: despite the promise, alternative sources of islets will be essential. Prebiotics, nondigestible carbohydrates, might become an inexpensive adjunct treatment for children with T1D, suggests one study in JCEM (Ho et al.).
HbA1c measurements are a staple of diabetes management, but Nayak et al. point to clinical drawbacks and suggest alternatives. Murakami et al. detail a promising way to monitor beta cell mass non-invasively in a mouse model, which could speed drug development.
Although the articles here chiefly concern diabetes mellitus, a pilot study in JCEM focuses on diabetes insipidus (whose main sign is excessive urination; the root of “diabetes” is the Greek for “siphon”). Aulinas et al. find suggestive evidence that patients who also have pituitary deficiencies suffer depression and anxiety as a result of low plasma levels of oxytocin—a potential new research frontier.
See more Endocrine Society special issues.
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Body-Weight Fluctuation and Incident Diabetes Mellitus, Cardiovascular Disease, and Mortality: A 16-Year Prospective Cohort Study
Body-weight fluctuation (weight cycling) has been found to be associated with higher mortality and cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease.
Association Between Glycemic Control and Risk of Fracture in Diabetic Patients: A Nested Case-Control Study
Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been associated with an increased risk of fractures. However, the effect of glycemic control on the risk of fracture is not well understood.
Low Plasma Oxytocin Levels and Increased Psychopathology in Hypopituitary Men With Diabetes Insipidus
Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin share anatomical pathways of synthesis and secretion, and patients with central diabetes insipidus (CDI) presumably are at risk for OT deficiency. However, an OT-deficient state in hypopituitary patients has not been established.
Effect of Prebiotic on Microbiota, Intestinal Permeability, and Glycemic Control in Children With Type 1 Diabetes
Patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have lower microbiota diversity and distinct gut microbial profiles that have been linked to changes in intestinal permeability.
Skeletal Fragility and Its Clinical Determinants in Children With Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with an increased fracture risk at all ages.
Journal of the Endocrine Society
Hyperinsulinemia: An Early Indicator of Metabolic Dysfunction
Hyperinsulinemia is strongly associated with type 2 diabetes.
A Polygenic Lipodystrophy Genetic Risk Score Characterizes Risk Independent of BMI in the Diabetes Prevention Program
There is substantial heterogeneity in insulin sensitivity, and genetics may suggest possible mechanisms by which common variants influence this trait.
Lipotoxicity and β Cell Maintenance in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes
Obesity and diabetes are often associated with lipotoxic conditions in multiple tissues.
Endocrine Reviews
Realizing a Closed-Loop (Artificial Pancreas) System for the Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes
Recent, rapid changes in the treatment of type 1 diabetes have allowed for commercialization of an “artificial pancreas” that is better described as a closed-loop controller of insulin delivery.
Genetic Risk Scores for Diabetes Diagnosis and Precision Medicine
During the last decade, there have been substantial advances in the identification and characterization of DNA sequence variants associated with individual predisposition to type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Insulin Resistance and Atherosclerosis: Implications for Insulin-Sensitizing Agents
Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are at high risk for macrovascular complications, which represent the major cause of mortality.
The Liver–α-Cell Axis and Type 2 Diabetes
Both type 2 diabetes (T2D) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) strongly associate with increasing body mass index, and together these metabolic diseases affect millions of individuals.
Potential Clinical Error Arising From Use of HbA1c in Diabetes: Effects of the Glycation Gap
The glycation gap (GGap) and the similar hemoglobin glycation index (HGI) define consistent differences between glycated hemoglobin and actual glycemia derived from fructosamine or mean blood glucose, respectively.
Pancreatic Islet Transplantation in Humans: Recent Progress and Future Directions
Pancreatic islet transplantation has become an established approach to β-cell replacement therapy for the treatment of insulin-deficient diabetes.
Endocrinology
Gestational Diabetes Adversely Affects Pancreatic Islet Architecture and Function in the Male Rat Offspring
Fetal exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and poor postnatal diet are strong risk factors for type 2 diabetes development later in life, but the mechanisms connecting GDM exposure to offspring metabolic health remains unclear.
Noninvasive Evaluation of GPR119 Agonist Effects on β-Cell Mass in Diabetic Male Mice Using 111In-Exendin-4 SPECT/CT
Longitudinal observation of pancreatic β-cell mass (BCM) remains challenging because non-invasive techniques for determining BCM in vivo have not been established.
Advanced Glycation End Products: Building on the Concept of the “Common Soil” in Metabolic Disease
The role of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in promoting and/or exacerbating metabolic dysregulation is being increasingly recognized.
