A study in mice--led by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis--shows that a new class of compounds the scientists developed can improve multiple aspects of metabolic syndrome. An increasingly common group of conditions that often occur together, metabolic syndrome includes type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, fat buildup in the liver, and excess body fat, especially around the waist. This syndrome often leads to cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. The study was published online on February 10, 2022 in Nature Communications. The open-access article is titled “Small Molecule SWELL1 Complex Induction Improves Glycemic Control and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Murine Type 2 Diabetes.”