ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2011
GABA exerts protective and regenerative effects on islet beta cells and reverses diabetes.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 206 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Use of Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GAD)and Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid(GABA)in the Treatment of Type I Diabetes.
The Protective Role of Preoperative Stimulation of the Distal Limb of the Ileostomy Loop With GABA Before Ileostomy Closure
Who cites it
206 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 405 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review of islet cryopreservation.Islets · 2018Pooled it
- Long-term gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) treatment fails to regain beta-cell function in longstanding type 1 diabetes in a randomized trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- A randomized trial of oral gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) or the combination of GABA with glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) on pancreatic islet endocrine function in children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes.Nature communications · 2022Trial
- Biosensor cell array reveals temporal GABA secretion dynamics from pancreatic islets.Molecular metabolism · 2026Article
- GABA as an Overlooked Mediator of Metformin Action: GABA-mediated Neuropsychiatric and Hepatoprotective Activities of Metformin.Annals of neurosciences · 2026Review
- Comprehensive Mechanistic Characterisation of the Antidiabetic Profile ofLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Peripheral GABA Signaling in Metabolic Adaptation and Maladaptation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Associations Between Sleep Quality and Continuous Glucose Monitoring-Derived Metrics in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes.Journal of sleep research · 2026Article
- Supplementation of γ-Aminobutyric Acid as a Functional Nutrient.Nutrients · 2026Review
- GABA Regulates CaMetabolites · 2026Article
- Markers Predicting Cure With Combinatorial Treatment in a Mouse Model of Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults.MedComm · 2026Article
- Repeated oral administration of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) does not cause reproductive or developmental toxicity in rats.Toxicology reports · 2026Article
- Context-dependent features of transcriptomic landscapes in pregnant mother-neonate dyads of preeclampsia.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2026Article
- Activation of the Pancreatic "Metabolic Synapse" Aggravates Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by Inducing PANoptosis in β-Cells.Diabetes · 2026Article
- Purification and Characterization of Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) from E. faecium BS5 and Its Antidiabetic Efficacy in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Article
- Molecular cloning, characterization, and expression analysis of two GABAMolecular biology reports · 2026Article
- Exploring the mechanisms connecting the sympathetic nervous system and type 2 diabetes: Focus on renal denervation.Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · 2026Review
- Mitochondrial DNA copy number reduction viaEpigenomics · 2026Article
- Review
- Beta cell secreted GABA sets appropriate insulin secretion by modulating islet calcium oscillations.Molecular metabolism · 2025Article
146 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by insulitis and islet β-cell loss. Thus, an effective therapy may require β-cell restoration and immune suppression. Currently, there is no treatment that can achieve both goals efficiently. We report here that GABA exerts antidiabetic effects by acting on both the islet β-cells and immune system. Unlike in adult brain or islet α-cells in which GABA exerts hyperpolarizing effects, in islet β-cells, GABA produces membrane depolarization and Ca(2+) influx, leading to the activation of PI3-K/Akt-dependent growth and survival pathways. This provides a potential mechanism underlying our in vivo findings that GABA therapy preserves β-cell mass and prevents the development of T1D. Remarkably, in severely diabetic mice, GABA restores β-cell mass and reverses the disease. Furthermore, GABA suppresses insulitis and systemic inflammatory cytokine production. The β-cell regenerative and immunoinhibitory effects of GABA provide insights into the role of GABA in regulating islet cell function and glucose homeostasis, which may find clinical application.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.