Hormonal
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are not merely toxic byproducts but are necessary for normal glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in pancreatic beta cells.
Your beta cells use small amounts of oxidative stress as a signal to release insulin when you eat. This is a normal and necessary part of how your body regulates blood sugar. While chronic, high levels of oxidative stress from obesity and high blood sugar damage beta cells, completely eliminating this signaling pathway would impair your ability to secrete insulin. The goal is metabolic balance, not the total elimination of oxidative processes.
mitochondria-derived ROS are necessary for normal glucose-stimulated insulin stimulation. While antioxidants in this study were able to blunt insulin secretion, insulin release could be induced with mitochondrial complex blockers that generate ROS.
Why this rating
Supported by specific mechanistic studies cited (Penicaud et al., 2009).
Source
The Role of Oxidative Stress and Hypoxia in Pancreatic Beta-Cell Dysfunction in Diabetes Mellitus
Philipp A. Gerber et al. · Antioxidants and Redox Signaling · 2016
DOI 10.1089/ars.2016.6755
More from this paper
- Pancreatic beta cells are uniquely susceptible to oxidative stress and hypoxia-induced dysfunction because they express unusually low levels of antioxidant defense enzymes (such as catalase) while maintaining high metabolic activity and ROS production.Good
- Hypoxia (low oxygen) in pancreatic islets, particularly in the core of transplanted islets or in obese individuals, contributes to beta-cell apoptosis and dysfunction by stabilizing Hypoxia-Inducible Factors (HIFs).Good
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