Researchers from Sweden found out that the elevated blood content of the Galektin-1 protein is associated with increasing risk of type 2 diabetes. Dedicated to a new risk factor. Article of scientists has been published in the journal Diabetologia.
Galektin-1 participates in the regulation of inflammation of body cells in the body. Previously, it was assumed that it participates in the pathophysiological mechanisms associated with the development of type 2 diabetes – so, it was revealed that its presence is associated with elevated levels of insulin. Researchers from Gothenburg and Lund universities analyzed blood samples of more than four thousand participants of the Longitudinal (long-term) study collected in 1991-1994. Scientists estimated how much the levels of galektin-1 associate with the development of type 2 diabetes over the next 18 years and set a positive correlation. At the same time, researchers note, do not consider the level of hagga-1 as a predictive tool when predicting diabetes.
At the same time, after analyzing the data of another longitudinal research, the specialists have shown that the elevated level of galektin-1 is associated with a smaller level of damage to the kidneys in overweight diabetics and improving insulin. “My personal theory is the action of galektin-1 in the kidneys associated with inflammatory processes, while in fatty tissues it is more connected with metabolic processes,” one of the researchers Emmanuel Friton notes.