On the basis of the recommendation of the American Diabetes Association’s Panel on Ethical Scientific Programs (ESP), the American Diabetes Association, the publisher of Diabetes, is issuing this expression of concern to alert readers about the authenticity of the data in the above-cited article. Multiple panels in this article are unexpectedly similar to those appearing in articles in PLOS ONE and PLOS Biology authored by the same laboratory.
In Fig. 2A, the αtubulin panel appears to be similar to the β-actin panels in Fig. 7J and K of the following 2012 article in PLOS ONE:
Cintra DE, Ropelle ER, Moraes JC, et al. Unsaturated fatty acids revert diet-induced hypothalamic inflammation in obesity. PLoS One 2012;7:e30571 (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030571)
In Fig. 2B, the pIKKβ panel appears to be similar to the mirror image of the pPERKThr981 panel in Fig. 7G of the following now-retracted 2010 article in PLOS Biology:
Ropelle ER, Flores MB, Cintra DE, et al. IL-6 and IL-10 anti-inflammatory activity links exercise to hypothalamic insulin and leptin sensitivity through IKKβ and ER stress inhibition [retracted in: PLoS Biol 2023;21:e3002079]. PLoS Biol 2010;8:e1000465 (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000465)
Diabetes is a member journal of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (publicationethics.org). As such, the editors of the journal and the ESP refer to COPE’s guidelines and recommendations when reviewing such matters.
