diabetes

Signaling molecules called EETs could improve insulin resistance, a primary risk factor for Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

Researchers with the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRTC) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center led a multisite study which has demonstrated that, when controlled and standardized, quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pancreas is highly reproducible when using different MRI hardware and software at different geographic locations.

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a high-throughput screening method to identify and characterize antigen-specific B cells — potential biomarkers for autoimmune disease and targets for new treatments.

Vanderbilt researchers are looking to mRNA populations in podocytes — kidney cells that help filter blood — to help identify potential targets for treating diabetic kidney disease.

For patients with type 2 diabetes treated with basal or long-acting insulin, the use of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) can result in significantly lower hemoglobin A1C (a blood test that reflects average blood glucose levels over three months), and better management of the disease according to a study recently published in the journal JAMA.

Vanderbilt researchers dissected the complex microenvironment of the pancreatic islet to discover the signals that drive beta cell regeneration — as a possible treatment for diabetes.