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Nicotine-sensitive receptors may decrease insulin secretion, increase diabetes risk
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Smoking-induced nicotine exposure may directly affect insulin secretion, increasing the risk for type 2 diabetes, according to recent study findings.
In mouse models, Elvira Ganic, a PhD student at the Stem Cell Center at Lund University in Sweden, and colleagues found that beta-cell-specific deletion of the MafA transcription factor leads to a complete loss of insulin secretion when autonomic nervous system is stimulated, and that the defect is most likely caused by adrenergic and nicotinic neurotransmitter receptor expression. The research was confirmed in similar analysis with donated human beta cells, according to researchers.
Researchers also found a specific genetic alteration renders dysfunctional nicotine-receptors affecting the number of functional nicotine-sensitive receptors found in beta cells. A reduced number of functional receptors leads to a decrease in insulin secretion, thereby increasing the risk for type 2 diabetes.
"The receptors in the beta cells that stimulate the release of insulin are normally activated by the signal substance acetylcholine, but they can also be activated by nicotine,” Isabella Artner, researcher at the Stem Cell Center at Lund University, said in a press release. “Never before has the importance of nicotine-sensitive receptors been shown in terms of the function of beta cells. Our research indicates that people who lack these receptors are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes."
Researchers also discovered that the MafA gene controls the number of nicotine-sensitive receptors and, thereby, their ability to receive signals from the central nervous system.
"The effect that this single gene, MafA, alone has on insulin secretion was previously unknown, and nicotine receptors have never before been connected to type 2 diabetes,” Artner said. "We know that smokers have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but the reason why has not been firmly established. Perhaps it has to do with the nicotine-sensitive receptors we describe. Our findings increase knowledge about the connection between smoking and type 2 diabetes.”
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