Studying blood sugar regulation in cavefish has implications for understanding human diabetes

KANSAS CITY, MO—Understanding how cavefish have adapted to their extreme environments and how their metabolism is different from surface fish may be relevant for understanding metabolism-related conditions in humans. Stowers Assistant Investigator Nicolas Rohner, PhD, and colleagues at Stowers and Harvard Medical School recently published findings in Nature that suggest how cavefish have acquired biological mechanisms to compensate for detrimental effects of high blood sugar levels, which are characteristic of some human metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Read more about these results and their implications for human health in the links below.

Blind and hungry cavefish reveal survival secrets in their genes
Nature Research Highlight, a general audience summary

Mexican cavefish
Nature Podcast including an interview with Nicolas Rohner

The healthy diabetic cavefish conundrum
Nature News and Views, a research summary for non-specialists

Sweet Surprise
Press Release

Insulin resistance in cavefish as an adaptation to a nutrient-limited environment
Nature Letter, the scientific research article

Sugar, Sugar. Why cavefish develop symptoms of diabetes but are not sick
Behind the Paper from Nature Ecology & Evolution

Rohner Lab
Lab website with more cavefish research