Researchers at the University of Gothenburg now associate elevated levels of the protein galectin-1 with increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes about 18 years later. At the same time, this protein seems to be a protective factor for the kidneys among type 2 diabetes patients at high risk for diabetic nephropathy.
Findings of the study, a collaboration with researchers at Lund University, have been published in the journal Diabetologia. The researchers point to both negative and positive links between the protein galectin-1 and type 2 diabetes. In a general population, galectin-1 may be associated with an increased risk of diabetes, but in patients with a subtype of diabetes that increases the risk of kidney damage, galectin-1 appears to be beneficial, as patients with high galectin-1 levels in their blood suffer less kidney damage.
