Genetic variants in MTNR1B affecting insulin secretion

The incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus has markedly increased worldwide over the past decades. Pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction as well as central and peripheral insulin resistance appears to be elementary features in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Major environmental conditions predisposing to the development of type 2 diabetes are excessive food intake and sedentary life-style on the background of a genetic predisposition. Recent genome-wide association studies identified several novel type 2 diabetes risk genes, with impaired pancreatic beta-cell function as the underlying mechanism of increased diabetes risk in the majority of genes. Many of the novel type 2 diabetes risk genes, including MTNR1B which encodes one of the two known human melatonin receptors, were unexpected at first glance. However, previous animal as well as human studies already pointed to a significant impact of the melatonin system on the regulation of glucose homeostasis, in addition to its well known role in modulation of sleep and circadian rhythms. This brief review aims to give an overview of how alterations in the melatonin system could contribute to an increased diabetes risk, paying special attention to the role of melatonin receptors in pancreatic beta-cell function.