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A protein in the brain may link smoking and diabetes
Smokers develop type 2 diabetes 30–40% more often than nonsmokers, and new research suggests that nicotine’s actions in the brain may be to blame.
Experiments in rats suggest that nicotine may needlessly turn on part of the body’s fight-or-
flight mechanism, flooding it with useless glucose that would otherwise get used to run,
punch, or kick. Over years of cigarette or vape-pen use, those useless glucose bumps wear
flight mechanism, flooding it with useless glucose that would otherwise get used to run,
punch, or kick. Over years of cigarette or vape-pen use, those useless glucose bumps wear
out the insulin-signaling pathways in cells and eventually lead to diabetes, says Paul J. Kenny, the neuroscientist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who led the study (Nature 2019, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1653-x).
While the study was done on rats, it has been proven that rats are a reliable model for humans. Rats are a fairly reliable model for nicotine use and overuse, she says, but it remains to be seen if
the same things are happening in humans. Kenny’s team is looking at large databases of
human genetics, searching for people who might have mutations in TCF7L2 and seeing
whether they smoke and if they ever developed diabetes.
the same things are happening in humans. Kenny’s team is looking at large databases of
human genetics, searching for people who might have mutations in TCF7L2 and seeing
whether they smoke and if they ever developed diabetes.
There are “all sorts of interactions between [TCF7L2], smoking, and diabetes from human
genetics data,” he says. “Nicotine is a major driver of both brain and body diseases. It’s a
very problematic drug.”
Source article
genetics data,” he says. “Nicotine is a major driver of both brain and body diseases. It’s a
very problematic drug.”
Source article
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