Researchers in Canada said they identified the role pain nerves in insulin-producing cells may play in preventing and reversing diabetes in mice.

The work "led us to fundamentally new insights into the mechanisms of this disease," Michael Salter, of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and a co-lead investigator, said in a news release.

Researchers said they learned that pain receptors don't secrete enough chemical elements found in the brain to keep insulin-producing pancreatic islets working normally. By supplying the chemical element to diabetic-prone mice, "the research group learned how to treat the abnormality ... and even reversed established diabetes," Salter said.

Researchers were tracking links between Type 1 diabetes and the nervous system when they found what they said was a control circuit between the islets that produce insulin and associated pain nerves. This circuit keeps the islets operating normally. When they investigated further, researchers found specific sensory neurons didn't secrete enough neuropathies to sustain normal functions, which in essence, created stress.

The researchers extended the studies to Type 2 diabetes. They said they believed treating the islet-sensory nerve circuits could normalize insulin resistance.