Support for insulin signaling and inflammation after surgery

Surgeons are routinely surprised at the speed of recovery and reduction of complications and discomfort when they operate on our patients who have a surgical support program based on their individual needs. This interesting study published recently in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism describes why supporting insulin function and regulation of the inflammatory response help so much.

"The mechanisms behind postoperative insulin resistance and impaired glucose utilization are not fully understood...In this study, we aimed to specifically evaluate the transcription profile of genes in the insulin and adipokine signaling pathways...after surgical injury."

Adipokines are cytokines such as IL-6 and TNFα secreted by fat cells. The authors measured changes in the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels that code for insulin signaling and inflammatory cytokines to define how genes alter their expression in response to a surgical trauma. Their data showed a signficant effect:

"After surgery...adipose tissue mRNA levels of genes involved in the IL6 and nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase pathways were increased, whereas mRNA levels of insulin receptor substrate 1 and adiponectin were reduced."

Their conclusion is important for surgeons and their patients:

"The transcriptional output of pivotal inflammatory and insulin signaling pathway genes is altered after surgery...This could be of importance for the metabolic aberrations associated to postsurgical complications, such as insulin resistance and hyperglycemia."

If you are anticipating an elective procedure and your surgeon is not trained to design a supportive protocol based on an evaluation using the appropriate tests, you may wish to seek out a practitioner experienced in the functional approach.