A number of reports at the June 2002 meeting of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) indicate that evidence for a link between inflammation and diabetes is increasing. In recent years, inflammation has been identified as a component of heart disease, and it now appears that it plays a role in the development of diabetes as well.

Inflammation is a normal process that the body uses to respond to injury, sending specialized cells to destroy and remove damaged cells. But when the immune system malfunctions, the inflammatory process can damage healthy tissue.

Substances in the bloodstream called inflammatory markers indicate inflammatory activity; one of these is C-reactive protein (CRP), which had previously been linked to heart disease and heart attack. Now it has also been associated with diabetes and obesity. One of the researchers noted that if inflammation is the common link for developing insulin resistance, diabetes and heart disease, then monitoring and treating high CRP levels would be "very attractive."

It was also reported that people taking one of the drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes, rosiglitazone, also showed a reduction in the inflammatory marker CRP. Similarly, the cholesterol-lowering statins have also been shown to reduce inflammation and to delay the need to switch to insulin for people with type 2 diabetes.

These reports are indications of the progress that is being made in finding new ways to help prevent heart disease and to prevent and treat diabetes.

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Source:  American Diabetes Association. Inflammation and type 2 diabetes. ADA meeting report, June 16, 2002.