In an interesting new study published in Nature Communications, researchers compared gene expression of Jamaican fruit bats (Artibeus jamaicensis) and insectivorous big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) to humans with diabetes. Fruit eating bats, in particular, intrigued researchers as their diet is high in sugars requiring the animals to rapidly regulate glucose to prevent diabetes-like complications. In fact, fruit bats are able to lower their blood sugar faster after a meal than big brown bats that consume primarily insects.
In addition to having more cells dedicated to producing the glucose-lowering hormone insulin in the pancreas, the kidneys of fruit bats must also deal with the high water (and low electrolyte) content of fruits. In fact, the kidneys of fruit bats have structural differences, along with lower expression of transport proteins responsible for producing concentrated urine, from big brown bats that allow them to get rid of excess water by producing dilute urine. Fruit bats also have greater expression of genes associated with protecting the kidneys from glucose-induced damage as well as higher levels of insulin without diabetes-like pathologies.
Source:
WE Gordon, S Baek, HP Nguyen, Y-M Kuo, R Bradley, SL Fong, N Kim, A Galazyuk, I Lee, MR Ingala, NB Simmons, T Schountz, LN Cooper, I Georgakopoulos-Soares, M Hemberg, N Ahituv. Integrative single-cell characterization of a frugivorous and an insectivorous bat kidney and pancreas. Nature Communications. 152, 2024.
Categories: Comparative Physiology, Diet and Exercise, Extreme Animals, Nature's Solutions
Tags: bat, big brown bat, Diabetes, fruit bat, Jamaican fruit bat
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