Scientists have unearthed surprising details about how our bodies handle insulin — the hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating blood sugar and developing diabetes.
The discovery could lead to better treatment of type 2 diabetes and earlier diagnosis, potentially even before the disease develops.
In a new paper in the scientific journal Cell, researchers from the University of Copenhagen found that all individuals have unique and varying degrees of insulin resistance at the molecular level.
The discovery of this ‘molecular fingerprint’ for insulin sensitivity challenges the traditional binary classification of people as being either healthy or living with type 2 diabetes.
“We found huge variation in insulin sensitivity, even among people considered healthy and among those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. There are even some individuals living with type 2 diabetes who respond better to insulin than healthy individuals. Our study highlights the need to move beyond separating people into two boxes and recognize individual variation,” says Associate Professor Atul Deshmukh from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, CBMR, at the University of Copenhagen.
He is one of the senior authors of the research that was carried out in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Steno Diabetes Center in Denmark.
Better diagnosis and treatment
The breakthrough was made using cutting-edge protein analysis, known as proteomics, to study how insulin affects muscle tissue. This approach enabled the team to map molecular changes in muscle biopsies from over 120 individuals.
Their analyses revealed that certain proteins change consistently as insulin resistance develops. These molecular signatures could help identify people at risk earlier than current clinical methods allow — even before symptoms appear.
“By learning more about the molecular signatures of insulin resistance, we’re building the foundation for precision medicine in type 2 diabetes tailored to each patient. Our research is a big step in that direction,” adds Anna Krook, Professor at Karolinska Institutet and co-lead author of the study.
In addition, the researchers were able to use these molecular fingerprints to precisely predict how well the body handles insulin.
“When we combine this deep, clinical data with the molecular signatures of insulin resistance, we suddenly understand a lot more about people’s insulin resistance that we can use to design precision medicine,” says Jeppe Kjærgaard Northcote, first author of the study and researcher at CBMR.