Blind fish: An eye opener

Lay Summary: Different species of vertebrates have conditions similar to human obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Increasing number of studies are now revealing that the causes and interrelationships between these states are substantially different in different species. Comparative physiology may turn out to be an eye opener for evolutionary theories of diabetes. Obesity induced insulin resistance is believed to be central to type 2 diabetes. Recent work on Mexican cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus, has revealed a hyperglycemic phenotype similar to human type 2 diabetes but here insulin resistance is the cause of obesity rather than an effect. Instead of developing diabetic complications, the hyperglycemic fish lead a healthy and long life. In addition to fish, insulin resistance in hibernating bears, dolphins, horses, bonnet macaques and chimpanzees demonstrate that the relationship between diet, obesity, insulin sensitivity and diabetes is widely different in different species. Evolutionary hypotheses about type 2 diabetes should explain these differences.