Mitochondrial Impairment in Muscle Insulin Resistance

This investigation is being carried out to learn more about research findings from a study that was completed last year. Those findings revealed that within the skeletal muscle cells of individuals with type 2 diabetes, there was often damage to the mitochondria (the muscle cell's power source or the machinery of the muscle cell that produces energy). In individuals with type 2 diabetes, the liver continues to release sugar even when sugar levels are normal; the pancreas is not able to produce and release insulin normally; and the muscle and fat cells no longer respond as effectively to insulin. These defects lead to an abnormal rise of sugar in the blood. In this study, we want both to look more closely at the mitochondria and see if there is potential for improving mitochondrial functioning (improving the machinery of the muscle cell that produces energy) and reversing mitochondrial damage through a weight loss or a combined exercise/weight loss program. The program you get assigned to will be determined by a process called randomization (like a flip of a coin).