A June 2021 study from University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and BIO5 Institute, and Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University,
"All current therapeutics for Type 2 diabetes primarily aim to decrease blood glucose. So, they are treating a symptom, much like treating the flu by decreasing the fever,”
"Obesity is known to be a cause of Type 2 diabetes and, for a long time, we have known that the amount of fat in the liver increases with obesity,”
"As fat increases in the liver, the incidence of diabetes increases."
"We found that fat in the liver increased the release of the inhibitory neurotransmitter Gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA,"
"We then identified the pathway by which GABA synthesis was occurring and the key enzyme that is responsible for liver GABA production - GABA transaminase."
"When the liver produces GABA, it decreases activity of those nerves that run from the liver to the brain. Thus, fatty liver, by producing GABA, is decreasing firing activity to the brain,"
"That decrease in firing is sensed by the central nervous system, which changes outgoing signals that affect glucose homeostasis."
"Inhibition of excess liver GABA production restored insulin sensitivity within days,"
"Longer term inhibition of GABA-transaminase resulted in decreased food intake and weight loss."