New Insights to Diabetes: Is Diabetes a Metabolic Disorder or a Neurological Disease

Abstract

Ahed J Alkhatib

The present study introduces diabetes from neurological point of view. Although existing literature has largely focused on diabetes from metabolic point of view, we think stress biology has impacts on the initiation and progression of diabetes. We have previously demonstrated that diabetes may occur as a functional alteration in white matter in which we examined the phenomenon of overexpression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). At the same time, we noticed that the expression of HSP70 in the same area was down-regulated. When we studied different tissues such as kidneys, and liver of diabetic rats, we also found the same trend. According to this context, we developed our new hypothesis that stated that diabetes and diabetic neuropathies are independent events. In other words, we think that the same factors that developed diabetes resulted in diabetic neuropathies. Taken together, we think we have to change some basic concepts and to consider diabetes to be more neurological diseases more than a metabolic disease. Studying biomarkers such as iNOS and HSP70 helps in introducing the concept of epigenetics to play new important roles in initiating and progression of diabetes. The expression of mentioned biomarkers in white matter impacts other tissues and we think it is responsible to initiate diseases such as diabetes.

PDF