Nikolajczyk Study Reveals B cells as Therapeutic Targets to Alter Obesity-Associated Inflammation and Type 2 Diabetes

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are two closely associated diseases that are increasing at epidemic rates worldwide.  Inflammation, predominantly from cells of the immune systems, plays critical roles in pathogenesis of both diseases, and may be key to the development of type 2 diabetes in obese individuals. New work published by Barbara Nikolajczyk’s team indicates that B cells, an immune cell type that can be depleted by FDA-approved drugs, play critical roles in obesity- and type 2 diabetes-associated inflammation. These findings raise the clinically critical possibility that existing drugs may provide fundamentally new approaches for curbing onset and pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.