Early in the disease, diabetes patients produce insufficient insulin that results in hyperglycemia, or elevated blood glucose. More than 200 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with the disease, 20 million in the United States alone. In fact, according to Jamey Marth, a professor of cellular and molecular medicine at UCSD, "likelihood that obesity will lead to diabetes is so common that this epidemic is sometimes referred to as 'diabesity." ,

High levels of insulin have also been implicated in contributing to other diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke. If further research confirms the findings, one possible clinical application would be the development of therapeutic agents that boost GnT-4a levels (or GnT-4a expression). Agents that inhibit GnT-4a may be useful in preventing a number of diseases inked to too much insulin production, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.

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