Endocrine Abstracts

For the past two decades, genetics has been widely explored as a tool for unravelling the pathogenesis of cardio-metabolic disorders. Many risk alleles for type 2 diabetes and hyperglycaemia have been detected in recent years through massive genome-wide association studies and evidence exists that most of these variants influence pancreatic β-cell function. Investigations of more detailed physiological phenotypes, are now emerging and give indications of more specific pat...

Inability to store excess lipids in the subcutaneous adipose tissue leads to ectopic lipid deposition in several sites including the liver, skeletal muscles, intra-abdominal and pericardial depots. This, in turn, has negative consequences for degree of insulin sensitivity and the dysmetabolic state associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.Storage of fat in the adipose tissue can either lead to inappropriate cellular enlargement (hypertrophi...

Pancreatic β cell dysfunction and death are central in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Genetic factors predispose to type 2 diabetes but, despite very large scale genome-wide association studies, the heritability of the disease remains largely unexplained. Environmental and lifestyle factors contribute to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and likely explain its rapidly increasing prevalence. Elevated levels of s...