Harry Cutler and David James on using a dual tracer test to identify insulin resistance in mice, Lori Sussel on PTPN2 regulation of metabolic flux, a preview of a special Sweet Talk episode this month, and more!

Welcome to the March 2024 episode of DiabetesBio—the American Diabetes Association’s podcast for its flagship research publication, Diabetes. In this episode of DiabetesBio, Drs. Kirk Habegger, Darleen Sandoval, and Kevin Williams discuss the latest and greatest content in the March 2024 issue of Diabetes. 

1:15 Before getting underway with this week’s interviews, Kirk gives a quick shout-out to March’s Paper of the Month: “High Doses of Exogenous Glucagon Stimulate Insulin Secretion and Reduce Insulin Clearance in Healthy Humans,” by Gray et al. Although they only mention it in passing, Kirk does offer a ringing endorsement: “It’s excellent work, and all things glucagon are good.” This article is freely available at https://doi.org/10.2337/db23-0201. 

 2:44 Darleen announces that the March DiabetesBio is actually two episodes. The first part features Darleen and Kirk interviewing authors of the feature articles of the month, and the second part is devoted to Sweet Talk with Kevin. In this special episode, Kevin delves into the ADA’s Pathway to Stop Diabetes initiative with two of the initiative’s key members and one of the initiative’s award-winning researchers. 

 4:30 Darleen and Kirk interview Mr. Harry B. Cutler and Dr. David E. James, first and last authors of “Dual Tracer Test to Measure Tissue-Specific Insulin Action in Individual Mice Identifies In Vivo Insulin Resistance Without Fasting Hyperinsulinemia.” They discuss the use of a dual tracer test and describe insights into tissue-specific insulin action. They also raise an interesting question: Could it be that the popular belief that peripheral insulin resistance leads to hyperinsulinemia is inaccurate? This article can be freely accessed at https://doi.org/10.2337/db23-0035. 

 27:50 Kirk and Darleen then host Dr. Lori Sussel, last author of “PTPN2 Regulates Metabolic Flux to Affect β-Cell Susceptibility to Inflammatory Stress.” Dr. Sussel and her group determined that β-cells lacking PTPN2 are more susceptible to inflammatory stress associated with T1D due to impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, mitochondrial defects, and reduced glucose-induced metabolic flux, indicating a role for PTPN2 in maintaining metabolic fitness in β-cells. This article can be freely accessed at https://doi.org/10.2337/db23-0355. 

To learn more about Diabetes and DiabetesBio, please visit diabetesjournals.org/diabetes. Thank you for listening, and don’t forget to smash that “follow” button!