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Abstract
The common spontaneous form of diabetes mellitus seen in cats closely resembles that of human type 2 diabetes. Similar risk factors for the disease are seen in cats and people, such as age and obesity. Progression to type 2 diabetes is marked by increased resistance to insulin action in peripheral tissues, especially skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, and decreased function of the -cell in insulin production and/or secretion. Early detection of -cell failure is critical in determining therapeutic routes to counter the disease. Recently, in human studies, it has been found that the earliest stages of -cell function loss can be observed as an increase in the proinsulin/insulin ratio in serum during fasting states. This study has produced antibodies whose specificity for feline insulin, proinsulin, and C-peptide may prove useful in the development of highly specific assays for determining serum concentrations of intact feline proinsulin and insulin.