Elevated levels of insulin could be an early sign that girls whose mothers suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome -- or PCOS -- may also be susceptible to the disease, according to gynecologists who have found evidence of insulin resistance in young children.

A Finnish study of identical twins has found that physical inactivity and acquired obesity can impair expression of the genes which help the cells produce energy. The findings suggest that lifestyle, more than heredity, contributes to insulin resistance in people who are obese.

Two of the great scourges of old age are insulin resistance (often leading to late-onset diabetes) and frailty (a suite of symptoms that may have their roots in runaway inflammatory signaling). A review by Paolisso and Abbatecola investigates the possible connections between the two:

For quite some time now, scientists suspected the so-called hexosamine pathway — a small side business of the main sugar processing enterprise inside a cell — to be involved in the development of insulin resistance. But they could never quite put their finger on the underlying mechanism.

Obesity is a worldwide health problem directly linked to several diseases such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Resistin is a cysteine-rich hormone mainly secreted by adipose tissues and may form a biochemical link between obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The “world’s fattest mice” can overeat without developing insulin resistance or diabetes thanks to a glut of a key hormone, a dichotomy that helps explain why not all obese people are diabetic, a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher has found.

Upper trunk fat – deposits of fat on the chest and back –– is associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance, a condition that is a precursor of type 2 diabetes, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).

The traditional prescriptions for a healthy life—sensible diet, exercise and weight control—extend life by reducing signaling through a specific pathway in the brain, according to Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers who discovered the connection while studying long-lived mice.

Measuring levels of a chemical found in blood offers the best indicator yet of the amount of fat surrounding abdominal organs, according to a new study of lean and obese individuals reported in the July issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press.

Orexigen(TM) Therapeutics Reports that data is to be presented on June 23rd at the American Diabetes Association 67th Scientific Sessions in Chicago.

Resistin is a small protein secreted by the immune cells monocytes and macrophages, and has been linked to insulin resistance, atherosclerosis, and inflammation. Recently, studies in mice have shown that resistin is present in the mouse hypothalamus and that it is capable of activating specific neurons.

Macrophages - the scavenger cells of the body's immune system - are known as troublemakers for the role they play in obesity, but Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have found that the cells can also be saviors when it comes to metabolism.