If a researcher introduces a mutation reducing GLUT4 transporter affinity for glucose specifically in pancreatic beta cells, which consequence follows for a patient after consuming a high-carbohydrate meal?

💡 Explanation

Reduced GLUT4 affinity in beta cells impairs glucose sensing, because glucose uptake is the trigger for insulin release. Therefore, insulin secretion diminishes, exacerbating hyperglycemia; rather than other mechanisms involving insulin-mediated glucose uptake elsewhere in the body, or glucagon regulation.

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