Commenting on the significance of the research, Professor John Nolan of the Department of Clinical Medicine, TCD, who led the Metabolic Research Group, said: "Type 2 diabetes is presenting in much younger people, usually because of early onset obesity and a strong family background of diabetes. These studies provide us with important new insights into the way diabetes develops and progresses in these young patients. In this study, we have shown that obese young patients with Type 2 diabetes, in contrast to equally obese young people without diabetes, have abnormal function of key mitochondrial genes and proteins. Mitochondria are the energy centres in cells and these abnormalities contribute to insulin resistance and a severely blunted response to physical exercise. Aerobic exercise is very effective in preventing and treating Type 2 diabetes in middle aged and older people."

"Type 2 diabetes is the major chronic disease of modern societies", continued Professor Nolan, "and threatens the health of populations, most dramatically in Asia and developing countries. Designing specific treatments for Type 2 diabetes in young people depends on a more exact understanding of the cellular mechanisms of this disease. Our studies of muscle mitochondrial function have allowed us to focus intervention studies on these important new mechanisms."

Source: Trinity College Dublin