March 6, 2008
Other
Question from India:
I want to know whether intestinal mucus quantity and consistency has been studies and if it is related to increased or decreased sugar absorption resulting in variations in blood glucose levels. Mucus, along with pH, is an immune defense related mediator and barrier so its instabilities or imbalances may be related to predisposed instabilities.
Can insulin’s receptors on target cells be down-regulated due to excess/increased insulin exposure to target cells? Down-regulation of receptors happen in case of other hormones.
Answer:
The answer to the first question is simply I do not know. The answer to the second question is clearly yes. For instance, I do clamp studies in my research in patients with type 1 diabetes. Even though patients with type 1 diabetes are not known to have insulin resistance as a primary means for hyperglycemia, they have insulin resistance. This is in large part due to the exposure to hyperinsulinemia with down-regulation of insulin receptors. The phenomenon has also be seen in tissue culture studies.
JTL
