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Aspirin-Like Compounds May Help Obese People Skip Diabetes

Posted on: Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 09:00 CDT

Obesity is a big risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Now, a study has found that aspirin-like compounds called salicylates may help obese people avoid diabetes by increasing their insulin production.

Insulin is crucial to metabolizing blood sugar. In type 2 diabetes, cells -- especially fat cells -- become resistant to insulin, so the body needs more of it to keep blood sugar levels from staying harmfully high.

While previous studies have shown aspirin reduces blood sugar in diabetics, the effects on obese people were not known.

Researchers at the Institut d'Investigacio Biomedica de Girona in Spain gave triflusal, a salicylate derivative, to 28 middle-aged people with a Body Mass Index of about 40. (A BMI of 30 is considered obese). For 12 weeks, they received a daily dose of 600 mg. of triflusal, 900 mg., or a placebo.

The subjects' fasting blood sugar levels dropped significantly. Contrary to expectations, this decrease was because the subjects secreted more insulin, not because their cells became more sensitive to insulin.

More studies are needed "on the possible therapeutic benefit of aspirin in the fight against type 2 diabetes," the researchers said. Their study is in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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