Inflammation
is a response triggered by damage to living tissues (Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc, 2014) , the inflammatory
response is a defense mechanism that evolved in higher organisms to protect
them from infection and injury.
The
injury can be cause by chemical agents, physical forces, living microbes or
many other physiologic or pathologic stimuli that disturb the normal steady
state as defined by Damjanov (2012), who insists
that inflammation occurs only in multicellular organisms that are capable of
mountaing a neurovascular and cellular response to injury.
Recent research suggests tha inflammation inside the body
plays a role in the development of Type 2 Diabetes. In this condition, the body
can’t produce enough insuline or the bodies can’t use the insuline adequately
due of insuline resistence (Tierney, McPhee, &
Papadakis, 2005) .
In a normal condition, when the blood sugar rise rapidly,
after some food, the pancreas secretes insulin whose primary purpose is to
drive sugar into each cells where it is stored for energy. If the cells is
full, it is rejected, them blood sugar rise again producing more insuline and
the glucose converts to stored fat, as Dr Lundell (2012) explain, the extra
sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood
vassels wall and set off the inflammation.
In
the other hand, inflammation is induced by chemical mediator produced by damage
host cells, such as Cytokines (Beck, 2014) and others, the
bolus of blood sugar that accompanies a meals or snack of highly refined
carbohydrates like bread, white rice, French fries, sugar laden soda, increases
levels of this inflammatory messenger (President & Fellows of Harvard College, 2007) . Researchers
discovered that in people with type 2 diabetes, cytokine levels are elevated
inside fat tissue, causing low levels of abnormal inflammation that alter the
action of insulin and contribute to development of the disease (Nazario, 2012) the body becomes
less sensitive to insulin and the resulting insulin resistance also leads to
inflammation. A vicious cycle can result, with more inflammation causing more
insulin resistance and vice versa.
Spranger, et al.(2002) evaluated the effects of various
inflamatory cytokines on the risk of type 2 diabetes and they concluded
supporting the concept that subclinical activation of the immune system is
involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, demonstrating in their study
that a specific pattern of cytokines was associated with an increased risk of
type 2 diabetes, rather than isolated elevation of the respective cytokines.
Finally,
although there is no clearly in the pathogenic mechanism, several studies
demonstrating the association between elevated blood sugar levels, inflammation
and diabetes mellitus, we are only in the beginning to understand the role of this
form of internal inflammation may play in the development of chronic diseases
like diabetes and vice versa.
Bibliography
