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A groundbreaking study by researchers at Wayne State University has revealed a compelling link between exposure to air pollution and an increased susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. Published in the journal Diabetes, the research highlights the dangerous association between benzene—one of the most common airborne volatile organic compounds—and insulin resistance, which can lead to metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes.
The study was led by Dr. Marianna Sadagurski, an associate professor at Wayne State University’s Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. In her paper titled “Microglia Mediate Metabolic Dysfunction From Common Air Pollutants Through NF-κB Signaling,” Dr. Sadagurski and her team conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis that included data from diverse populations, ranging from young adults to the elderly.
“We found a significant correlation between the presence of benzene metabolites in people’s urine and an increased index of insulin resistance,” said Dr. Sadagurski. This important finding suggests that air pollution could be a key environmental factor contributing to the development of insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
To further investigate the mechanisms behind this connection, the researchers conducted an experiment exposing mice to benzene. Within just seven days of exposure, the mice exhibited increased blood glucose levels and altered energy expenditure. The study also revealed significant disruptions in hypothalamic gene expression, particularly in male mice, leading to insulin resistance and an inflammatory response triggered by the NF-κB signaling pathway.
“In our study, we discovered that benzene exposure causes insulin resistance in the hypothalamus and provokes an inflammatory shift in the microglial transcriptome,” Dr. Sadagurski explained. This finding highlights the importance of the microglial NF-κB pathway in mediating the metabolic dysfunction caused by air pollution. Remarkably, genetic ablation of this pathway in microglia was able to reverse the negative metabolic changes observed in the benzene-exposed mice.
The study was a collaborative effort, with postdoctoral fellow Lukas Debarba and graduate students Hashan Jayarathne and Lucas Stilgenbauer serving as co-first authors. Other contributors included Ana L. Terra dos Santos, Lisa Koshko, Sydney Scofield, Ryan Sullivan, and Abhijit Mandal, from various institutions including Wayne State University and the University of Texas at El Paso.
This research not only underscores the health risks posed by air pollution but also provides new insight into the molecular mechanisms that could contribute to the rise in metabolic diseases. As urbanization continues to increase and pollution levels rise, the findings of this study are especially relevant in understanding how environmental factors may be shaping global health trends.
For further reading, the full study is available in Diabetes journal, DOI: 10.2337/db24-0110.
References: Lucas K. Debarba et al, “Microglia Mediate Metabolic Dysfunction From Common Air Pollutants Through NF-κB Signaling,” Diabetes (2024). DOI: 10.2337/db24-0110.
