Month: May 2026

The naturally occurring peptide, liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP2), has gained interest as a ghrelin receptor antagonist. We previously reported reduced food intake and plasma glucose–lowering effects of LEAP2 infusion in lean healthy men; however, the effects of this competitive antagonist and inverse agonist of the ghrelin receptor in men with obesity have not been […]

Diabetes-related vascular complications are characterized by impaired ischemia-driven angiogenesis and delayed wound healing. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as powerful targets for multifaceted diseases. We previously identified that miRNA-181c-5p has anti-angiogenic properties, but its role in diabetes is unknown. In a hindlimb ischemia model, streptozotocin-rendered diabetic mice treated with an miRNA-181c-5p inhibitor (anti–miR-181c-5p) exhibited improved blood […]

Phosphoglucomutase 1 (PGM1) is a type 1 diabetes susceptibility gene that potentially plays a key role in regulating central carbon metabolism in β-cells. Previous work suggested that β-cell PGM1 transcription is lowered after coxsackievirus B4 infection. Thus, we hypothesized that decreased PGM1 levels disrupt β-cell metabolic homeostasis and result in β-cell fragility and type 1 […]

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a major cause of end-stage renal failure, driven by tubulointerstitial fibrosis. While persistent Wnt/β-catenin signaling promotes fibrosis, its sustained activation mechanism was unclear. This study, using DKD patient samples, db/db mice, and Nedd4L knockout models combined with molecular techniques, identified a key pathogenic circuit. LGR5, upregulated in diabetic kidneys, amplifies […]

Dietary, surgical, and pharmacological methods can effectively reduce body weight; however, rapid weight loss can also be accompanied by a loss of lean mass. Previously, we found that intestinal fibroblast growth factor 15 (FGF15; mouse ortholog of human FGF19) protects against lean mass loss after sleeve gastrectomy in mice and that circulating FGF19 predicts lean […]

The strongest type 2 diabetes signal in Indigenous Americans from Arizona is in intron 15 of KCNQ1. We previously identified a functional region in this intron that contained four type 2 diabetes–associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs2299620, rs2237896, rs2237897, and rs74046911) and demonstrated functionality of this fragment using Indigenous American induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived […]

We previously identified six clusters of people at different risks of type 2 diabetes and/or comorbidities, of which cluster 3 (β-cell deficient) and 5 (older age, higher BMI, severe insulin resistance) had a high risk of progression to diabetes. We have now investigated whether cluster 3 and 5 individuals differed from those of the other […]