Insulin resistance this compensatory increase does not occur, blood glucose concentrations increase and type 2 diabetes or latent autoimmune diabetes of adults occurs. Any food or drink containing glucose (or the digestible carbohydrates that contain it, such as sucrose, starch, etc.) causes blood glucose levels to increase. In normal metabolism, the elevated blood glucose level instructs beta (β) cells in the Islets of Langerhans, located in the pancreas, to release insulin into the blood. The insulin, in turn, makes insulin-sensitive tissues in the body (primarily skeletal muscle cells, adipose tissue, and liver) absorb glucose, and thereby lower the blood glucose level. The
Insulin known as a homodimer. Insulin binds to the α-subunits of the homodimer, which faces the extracellular side of the cells. The β subunits have tyrosine kinase enzyme activity which is triggered by the insulin binding. This activity provokes the autophosphorylation of the β subunits and subsequently the phosphorylation of proteins inside the cell known as insulin receptor substrates (IRS). The phosphorylation of the IRS activates a signal transduction cascade that leads to the activation of other kinases as well as transcription factors that mediate the intracellular effects of insulin. The cascade that leads to the insertion of GLUT4 glucose transporters