title: Joe Doupe lecture: emerging strategies for the preservation of pancreatic beta-cell function in early type 2 diabetes.
abstract: A fundamental problem in the clinical management of type 2 diabetes is the inability to prevent the ongoing deterioration of pancreatic beta-cell function over time that underlies the chronic progressive nature of this condition. Importantly, beta-cell dysfunction has both reversible and irreversible components. Furthermore, the amelioration of reversible beta-cell dysfunction through the early institution of short-term insulin-based therapy has emerged as a strategy that can yield temporary remission of type 2 diabetes. In this context, we have forwarded a novel therapeutic paradigm consisting of initial induction therapy to improve beta-cell function early in the course of diabetes followed by maintenance therapy aimed at preserving this beneficial beta-cell effect. Ultimately, this approach may yield an optimized therapeutic strategy for the durable preservation of beta-cell function and consequent modification of the natural history of type 2 diabetes.
authors.affiliation: . rretnackaran@mtsinai.on.ca.
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Retnakaran
mesh_terms: D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000378:metabolism*