Moreover, a genome-wide diabetes profiling database (http://diabetes.wisc.edu) revealed that compared to lean animals, Hhip mRNA was markedly elevated in the islets of diabetic ob/ob mice (at the age of 4 and 10 weeks with both C57BL/6 and BTBR backgrounds), but not in other tissues such as liver, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles, adipose tissue and hypothalamus, underscoring the specificity of Hhip expression in murine T2D islets. Here, HHIP is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.