Cause of inflammation in diabetes identified

Inflammation is one of the main reasons why people with diabetes experience heart attacks, strokes, kidney problems and other, related complications. Now, in a surprise finding, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a possible trigger of chronic inflammation.  Through a series of experiments in the animals and in cell cultures, the researchers, including Douglas F. Covey, PhD, a professor of developmental biology and biochemistry, and Daniel S. Ory, MD, a professor of medicine and of cell biology and physiology, found that if macrophages could not synthesize fat from within, the external membranes of those cells could not respond to fat from outside the cells. That prevented the cells from contributing to inflammation.

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