In cases of Type 2 diabetes, the body’s cells fail to appropriately regulate blood glucose levels. Research has suggested that this results from two simultaneous problems: the improper functioning of pancreatic beta cells and the impairment of insulin’s actions on target tissues, including the liver, fat and muscles.

A new Joslin Diabetes Center-led study has identified a protein found in fat cells that may play a major role in how fat is produced and stored, offering a new target for treatments to prevent obesity and reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes. This latest research appears in the August 2007 issue of Cell Metabolism.

In a study appearing this month in the Journal of Immunology, researchers at the University of Illinois describe how an impaired anti-inflammatory response plays a role in the pathology of type 2 diabetes.

Individuals diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are at double the risk of having a stroke compared to those without diabetes, according to new research from the University of Alberta. It was found that the risk of a stroke is considered high within the first five years of treatment for Type 2 diabetes and more than doubles the rate of occurrence.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered a potential new target for treating type 2 diabetes, according to a new study that appeared online this week in Nature. The target is a protein, along with its molecular partner, that regulates fat metabolism.

Researchers have shown that key chemicals that carry cholesterol and fats in the blood accumulate in people with type 2 diabetes, which may help improve treatment of this disease.