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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a disease characterized by a prolonged hyperglycemic condition caused by insulin resistance mechanisms in muscle and liver, reduced insulin production by pancreatic β cells, and a chronic inflammatory state with increased levels of the pro-inflammatory marker semaphorin 3E. Phytochemicals present in several foods have been used to complement oral hypoglycemic drugs for the management of T2DM. Notably, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) inhibitors have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of T2DM. Our study aimed to investigate, in in vitro models of insulin resistance, the ability of the flavanones naringenin and hesperetin, used alone and in combination with the anti-inflammatory natural molecules curcumin, polydatin, and quercetin, to counteract the insulin resistance and pro-inflammatory molecular mechanisms that are involved in T2DM development. Our results show for the first time that the combination of naringenin, hesperetin, curcumin, polydatin, and quercetin (that mirror the nutraceutical formulation GliceFen®, Mivell, Italy) synergistically decreases expression levels of the pro-inflammatory gene SEMA3E in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells and synergistically decreases DPPIV activity in insulin-resistant Hep3B cells, indicating that the combination of these five phytochemicals is able to inhibit pro-inflammatory and insulin resistance molecular mechanisms and could represent an effective innovative complementary approach to T2DM pharmacological treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a study which examined the association of high-mobility group A1 (HMGA1) gene variants with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). A number of Italian patients with type 2 DM and control groups served as subjects in this study. Results of the study showed that IVS5-13insC, the most frequent functional HMGA1, was present in seven to eight percent of patients with type 2 DM in all groups. The study also found that IVS5-13insC variant was more prevalent in patients with type 2 DM in the Italian population. It notes that there was a decrease in the messenger ribonucleic acid levels and protein content of both HMGA1 and insulin receptor of these patients.

A major component of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the insulin resistance. Only a few studies have evaluated the IRS-1 polymorphism at codon 972, sometimes in the absence of a control group, and with great variability in frequency (0-23% in PCOS vs. 0-17% in controls), and with no unequivocal relationships between the polymorphism and clinical or biochemical indexes. The aim of the work was to evaluate the frequency of the IRS-1 polymorphism at codon 972 in PCOS, and correlate it to clinical and biochemical indexes. We assessed the rs 1801278 polymorphic variant in the IRS-1 gene (Gly972Gly=wild-type; Gly972Arg=heterozygosity; Arg972Arg=homozygosity) in genomic DNA by restriction fragment length polymorphism. The study was conducted at an academic medical center with the participation of 65 women with PCOS and 27 age-matched healthy women (controls). Compared to controls, Gly972Arg was very frequent in PCOS (77% vs. 18%, p<0.0001); one PCOS woman was homozygous. Compared to wild-type PCOS, heterozygous PCOS women had only three significantly different indexes: higher fasting insulin, insulin resistance index, and lower 120?min OGTT glucose. Moreover, in the correlation analysis between any two clinical or biochemical variables, the Pearson's correlation coefficients were frequently of different magnitude in heterozygous PCOS versus wild-type PCOS. Overall, heterozygous PCOS had a greater number of statistically significant relationships between different clinical, metabolic and hormonal indexes: 44 direct and 9 inverse versus 6 and 3, respectively. The IRS-1 Gly972Arg has the highest frequency reported world-wide for PCOS women. This variant is associated with insulin resistance and higher fasting insulin in PCOS women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]