Mitochondrial function: use it or lose it

Excerpt

Type 2 diabetes is a progressive metabolic disorder that develops as a result of both environmental and undefined genetic factors [1]. While the precise molecular aetiology of this disorder remains elusive, there is general consensus that type 2 diabetes has several hallmark features: (1) a breakdown in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, reflected by elevated levels of circulating metabolites and culminating in excessive deposition of fat in various tissues [2]; (2) skeletal muscle insulin resistance [3]; and (3) coordinated defects in oxidative metabolism [4‐6]. In conjunction with these altered metabolic states is the impaired insulin signalling observed in muscle of patients with type 2 diabetes [7]. At present, it is unclear whether these (and other) defects are a consequence of the diabetic state or are instrumental in its development. Unravelling this puzzle is made more difficult because these impairments do not occur in isolation but typically co-exist in the same individual. …