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Does bilirubin protect against developing diabetes mellitus?
Lars H Breimer1, Dimitri P Mikhailidis2
1Dept of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro University Hospital, SE-701 85, Örebro, Sweden.
Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications
|February 29, 2016
Summary
Bilirubin
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Metabolic pathways
- Genetics
Background:
- Bilirubin's potential protective role is being investigated beyond neonatal and cardiovascular diseases.
- Previous research explored bilirubin's association with diabetes mellitus (DM).
Purpose of the Study:
- To review existing data on the relationship between bilirubin and diabetes mellitus.
- To assess the evidence for a protective role of bilirubin in DM.
Main Methods:
- Review of prospective and retrospective studies.
- Analysis of biochemical assumptions and their translatability from animal to human models.
Main Results:
- Conflicting prospective data exist regarding a protective relationship between bilirubin and DM.
- Retrospective data show association, not causation.
- Biochemical assumptions may not directly apply to humans.
Conclusions:
- The relationship between bilirubin and diabetes mellitus remains unclear.
- Further research, potentially including molecular genetic analyses, is needed.
- Intermediates in bilirubin metabolism and related genes may play a role.
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