New research has found that blocking the gene – called TNFR5 – halted the destruction process of insulin producing cells, a discovery that could lead to new treatments for type 2 diabetes.
Insulin regulates the blood sugar level. Insulin helps store the sugar in your liver and releases sugar when the sugar level is low.
Using high-density microarray analysis, more than 31,000 genes associated with the pancreas were evaluated, which would determine which ones were most sensitive to glucose and fatty acids.
The researchers found that the gene TNFR5 had the highest sensitivity to glucose and fatty acids, and an overexpression of this gene led to beta cell destruction. This led to the finding inhibiting TNFR 5 activity could be a promising treatment for type 2 diabetes.