Endocannabinoids trigger inflammation that leads to diabetes

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have clarified in rodent and test tube experiments the role that inflammation plays in type 2 diabetes, and revealed a possible molecular target for treating the disease. The researchers say some natural messenger chemicals in the body are involved in an inflammatory chain that can kill cells in the pancreas, which produces insulin. A report of the finding appears online in Nature Medicine. “This study is a significant milestone in an ongoing exploration of the endocannabinoid system’s role in the metabolic complications of obesity,” says Kenneth R. Warren, Ph.D., acting director of NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), which led the study. Endocannabinoids are natural messengers in the body that help regulate many biological functions. They are chemically similar to the active compound in marijuana. Recent studies have tied endocannabinoids to the metabolic problems that lead to diabetes. Researchers also have recognized that inflammation appears to play an important role in the pathology of diabetes. http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2013/niaaa-19.htm