Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been considered a relentlessly worsening disease, due to the progressive deterioration of the pancreatic beta cell functional mass. Recent evidence indicates, however, that remission of T2D may occur in variable proportions of patients after specific treatments that are associated with recovery of beta cell function. Here we review the available information on the recovery of beta cells in (a) non-diabetic individuals previously exposed to metabolic stress; (b) T2D patients following low-calorie diets, pharmacological therapies or bariatric surgery; (c) human islets isolated from non-diabetic organ donors that recover from “lipo-glucotoxic” conditions; and (d) human islets isolated from T2D organ donors and exposed to specific treatments. The improvement of insulin secretion reported by these studies and the associated molecular traits unveil the possibility to promote T2D remission by directly targeting pancreatic beta cells.
The Role of Beta Cell Recovery in Type 2 Diabetes Remission
Source: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Author(s): Mara Suleiman, Lorella Marselli, Miriam Cnop, Decio L. Eizirik, Carmela De Luca, Francesca R. Femia, Marta Tesi, Silvia Del Guerra, Piero Marchetti
Organization: University of Pisa, Italy; Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium; AOUP Cisanello Hospital, Italy
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23137435
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