The relationship between chronic inflammation and the onset of type 2 diabetes will be the subject of collaborative research between scientists from the Department of Physiological Sciences at Stellenbosch University and the Centre for Applied Biological and Exercise Science at Coventry University in the United Kingdom.

Central to the collaboration will be the sharing of a valuable data set of information and blood samples from a study conducted on a group of farm workers from the Western Cape.

Dr Theo Nell (head of the EpiMets research group), Dr. Maritza Kruger, and three MSc students, collected epidemiological data during 2015 as part of a project funded by the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA).  Dr. Nell says scientists are now finding a link between lifestyle diseases – such as diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol – and the onset of certain types of lifestyle cancers. The aim of the study was to provide a snapshot of what is happening on the ground in the Western Cape.

His collaborator at Coventry University, Prof. Derek Renshaw, will use the abovementioned data set and samples to test for a link between chronic inflammation of the immune system and the onset of type 2 diabetes.

If scientists can find a link between the natural anti-inflammatory system and the onset of type 2 diabetes, then therapeutics could be designed to prevent the onset of this debilitating disease.

Prof. Renshaw explains: “Annexin A1 is a natural anti-inflammatory protein found in humans. It is known to be altered in human diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus, and recently we demonstrated that Annexin A1 is also altered in obesity. Individuals with high body fat have half the amount of Annexin A1 found in normal weight humans. Given that obesity is characterised by a mild, low grade chronic inflammatory disease, we believe that this reduction in plasma annexin A1 may exacerbate the inflammatory condition in these individuals and that this altered balance of inflammatory states may predispose those individuals to type 2 diabetes.

This study will enable then to determine whether there is a link between plasma Annexin A1 and insulin resistance/type 2 diabetes.

In 2015, Coventry University was named ‘University of the Year’ in the annual Times Higher Education (THE) Awards.

Prof. Renshaw recently visited SU to formalise the collaboration. Later this year, Dr Nell and members of his research team will travel to the UK to work with Prof. Renshaw.