We hypothesised that the inflammatory stimulus, an intravenous bolus injection of Escherichia coli LPS, would increase the activity of intermediates associated with insulin resistance, i.e. NF-κB and p-JNK, more profoundly in patients with type 2 diabetes, while the phosphorylation of AMPK was expected to be diminished. Here, MAPK8 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.