The incidence of type 2 diabetes increases with age, mainly because as we age, the body’s ability to respond to insulin deteriorates, which is known as insulin resistance, and one of the causes of this disorder is a sedentary lifestyle, while practicing physical exercise has health benefits.
Now, researchers at Monash University’s Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) in Australia have discovered that the key to why physical exercise improves insulin responsiveness and promotes metabolic health lies in an enzyme called NOX 4, a finding that may help create new drugs that protect against the consequences of aging on metabolic health, including the development of type 2 diabetes.
Prevent insulin resistance and diabetes
The research, which has been published in Science Advances, showed that reductions in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from skeletal muscle during aging are critical for developing insulin resistance. Professor Tony Tiganis, who led the work, explains that ROS is constantly produced by skeletal muscle and this increases during exercise. “Exercise-induced ROS generate adaptive responses that are integral to the health-promoting effects of exercise,” he says.
Boosting the activity of “NOX4 with drugs could improve key aspects of aging, including the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes”
The scientists verified in mice that NOX4 increases in skeletal muscle after exercise, and that this leads to an increase in ROS that provokes adaptive responses that protect these animals from the development of insulin resistance, which would have occurred due to exercise. aging or diet-induced obesity. They further showed that NOX4 levels in skeletal muscle are directly linked to age-associated declines in insulin sensitivity.
“In this study we have shown, in animal models, that the abundance of NOX 4 in skeletal muscle decreases with aging and that this leads to a reduction in insulin sensitivity,” said Professor Tiganis, adding: ” Triggering the activation of NOX4-orchestrated adaptive mechanisms with drugs could ameliorate key aspects of aging, including the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.” “One of these compounds is found naturally, for example, in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli or cauliflower, although the amount needed for anti-aging effects may be higher than many would be willing to consume.”
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