"the proinsulin disorder in diabetes is not
only ubiquitous but it is also precocious"
As a second post setting up for future discussions on insulin resistance and it's role in diabetes (especially type 2) I wanted to share the following paper with you here:
It is a long paper, almost 18 full pages of text, and more than 9 to list the 298 (yikes!) references. I will by no means attempt to address it in its entirety here, rather I shall focus on the section entitled "INCREASED PROINSULIN AS THE MAIN BETA CELL SECRETORY DEFECT". But first, the abstract of this 2007 paper:
Based on our clinical and epidemiological data, we have sustained for a long time the unitary character of the various phenotypes of the diabetic syndrome. In this paper, we add several arguments sustaining that the unitary character of diabetes is related to a common primary defect in the function of the beta cell endoplasmic reticulum, leading to an inadequate processing of the two main secretory molecules: pre-proinsulin and pre-proamylin. The post-translational changes of these molecules might explain the main proapoptotic and anti-regenerative pathogenic mechanisms leading to a progressive decrease in the β cell mass/function. In our view, the increased proinsulin levels encountered in various diabetes phenotypes could be not only a marker of beta cell dysfunction but also could indicate the main β cell defect, suggesting also its location.
