Tokyo University team make diabetes breakthrough

A team of researchers from Tokyo University Hospital have made a new breakthrough in diabetes research that could lead to new drugs to treat the disease. The news, which will be welcomed by the international diabetes community, was reported in the medical magazine Nature Medicine.
The team was led by Professor Takashi Kadowaki, who works in the diabetic and metabolic diseases department of the hospital. Together with colleagues, he has unraveled a specific mechanism that is behind fat-induced diabetes. The research is based around the hormone adiponectin.
Researching into the mechanism, the team found two distinct types of protein that can conjoin with adiponectin to burn fat. Obese mice have fewer of these proteins, and therefore have a harder time controlling blood sugar levels. If the protein could therefore be increased, a cure for diabetes could theoretically be possible.