Mouse Study Offers Clues to Obesity-Diabetes Link, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Reveals
Obesity and type 2 diabetes are clearly intertwined, but researchers say they've found a way to weaken the connection between the two—at least in mice. The key, they say, is blocking the body's inflammation response to high-fat foods. In this study, published online Dec. 6 in the journal Science, the researchers turned off the JNK (pronounced "junk") genetic pathway in mice, and fed the rodents high-fat diets. Even though the mice became obese, they didn't develop insulin resistance, a forerunner to diabetes.