In type 2 diabetes, the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or doesn’t react to it. This causes an accumulation of sugar (glucose) in the blood, which can have severe long-term consequences for organs, including the kidneys, where it can lead to diabetic kidney disease.
The new study, led by Dr Havovi Chichger of Anglia Ruskin University and funded by Diabetes UK, found that glucose transportation in junk food diets is very similar to that seen in type 2 diabetes.
The research, which was carried out while Dr Chichger was at University College London, used animal models of diabetes and models of diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance to see how insulin resistance, and too much sugar or fat, affect glucose transporters in the kidneys.
Rats were fed a junk food diet (high fat and sugar) of cheese, chocolate bars, biscuits and marshmallows for eight weeks, or a high fat “rodent chow” (60% fat) for five weeks.
The researchers then tested the effect of these diets on blood sugar levels and the different glucose transporters in the kidneys. The effect of the diets on these transporters was compared with the changes seen in rat models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
They found that certain types of glucose transporters (GLUT and SGLT) as well as their regulatory proteins were present in a higher number in type 2 diabetic rats. And a high fat diet and a junk food diet caused a similar increase in these receptors.
Dr Chichger, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at the Anglia Ruskin, said: “The Western diet contains more and more processed junk food and fat, and there is a well-established link between excessive consumption of this type of food and recent increases in the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
“In our study, type 1 and type 2 diabetes both induce changes in glucose transport in the kidney, but junk food or a diet high in fat causes changes that are very similar to those found in type 2 diabetes.
“Understanding how diet can affect sugar handling in the kidneys, and understanding whether the use of new inhibitors can reverse these changes, could help to protect kidneys from further damage.”
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For more press information please contact:
Jon Green on t: 01245 68 4717, e: jon.green@anglia.ac.uk
Jamie Forsyth on t: 01245 68 4716, e: jamie.forsyth@anglia.ac.uk
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