Less Invasive Gastric Sleeve May Benefit Type 2s

Research has already shown that gastric bypass can ease symptoms of diabetes, but according to a new study, a less-invasive sleeve may also result in benefits for those with type 2 diabetes.

According to a recent study, the use of a duodenal-endoluminal sleeve (DES) – a flexible tube that’s implanted in the small intestine to prevent nutrient absorption in the duodenum – resulted in sustained weight loss, improved glucose tolerance, and better fat metabolism when tested on rats with diabetes.

he DES mimics the health benefits of gastric bypass, but can be removed at any time, researchers said.

Kirk M. Habegger from the University of Cincinnati and colleagues from Germany’s Hemholtz Diabetes Center tested rats that had been implanted with the sleeve against those who had not over a 28-day period, and found that the sleeve led to decreased body weight, improved glucose tolerance, and improved fat metabolism.

“Our preclinical results validate DES as a promising therapeutic approach to diabetes and obesity, which offers reversibility, low risk, low invasiveness, and triple benefits including fat mass loss, glucose, and lipid metabolism improvement which mechanistically may involve increased villus growth in the upper gut,” researchers wrote.

The study appeared in the British medical journal Gut.