Diabetes: The good in fat

Abstract

A new class of fatty acid — found in food and synthesized by mammalian tissues — enhances glucose uptake from the blood and reduces inflammation, suggesting that these fats might be used to treat diabetes.

Figure 1. Anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory effects of fatty acids

a, Yore et al. describe a new class of fatty acid, called fatty-acid esters of hydroxyl fatty acids (FAHFAs), that are present in foods and that can be produced by adipocytes from newly synthesized long-chain fatty acids that are joined by esterification to hydroxylated fatty acids. Lipogenesis, the process of converting glucose to new fats, is catalysed by the enzyme FAS and activated by ChREBP, a glucose-responsive transcription factor. b, The authors show that administering FAHFAs to mice results in more-efficient clearance of glucose from the blood and suggest that this occurs through increasing secretion of, and sensitivity to, insulin, a hormone secreted by pancreatic β-cells. In adipocytes in vitro, FAHFAs activate the receptor GPR120, which increases translocation of the glucose receptor GLUT-4, and thereby enhances insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Administration of FAHFAs in vivo leads to increased serum levels of insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a gut hormone that enhances insulin secretion. In addition to these anti-diabetic effects, FAHFA activation of GPR120 reduces the production of the inflammatory molecules IL-1β and TNF-α by macrophage cells of the immune system.