Novel targets and therapeutic strategies for type 2 diabetes

The number of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing at an alarming rate in western societies and has become a major health concern. During the past decade, studies using transgenic animals, gene transfer and pharmacological agents have yielded many data that have helped understand the molecular alterations characteristic of T2DM. This has opened the possibility for the development of potentially more-effective therapies, mainly focused on attenuating hepatic glucose production, enhancing glucose-dependent insulin secretion, enhancing the insulin signal transduction pathway, inhibiting lipolysis from the adipose tissue and promoting fatty acid oxidation.