UC-Davis veterinarian finds good news for human bariatric surgical patients

Davis, Calif.

-- Researchers led by a veterinary endocrinology at University of California, Davis (UC-Davis) have shown that bariatric surgery can quickly turn around the onset of Type 2 diabetes, even before weight loss.

The results come from a study of rats that have undergone bariatric surgery to identify the why quick endocrine changes stave off worsening diabetes immediately after surgery -- even before weight loss.

“It has been thought that reduction of blood sugar, which indicates a reversal of type 2 diabetes, in patients following bariatric surgery was due to post-surgery weight loss," says UC-Davis veterinary endocrinology Peter Havel, who works in both the School of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Nutrition. "This study, however, supports the observations from a number of earlier clinical studies reporting that diabetes is often improved prior to substantial weight loss. It also suggests that endocrine changes in hormones produced by the gastrointestinal tract may contribute to the early effects of bariatric surgery, in addition to the later effects of weight loss."

The next step is identifying the particular molecular signals leading to the better regulation of metabolism.