**Abstract**

In today's world, type 2 diabetes has become a part of every household and leads to various complications including high blood sugar level, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic foot, diabetic nephropathy and diabetic neuropathy. Yet people lack awareness about this disease and its detrimental effects. For a better understanding of this disease we must know about the causes and preventive measures since the medications used in treating type 2 diabetes have moderate to severe side effects. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by loss of insulin receptor activity in skeletal muscle and adipocytes, compensatory insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells, β-cell dysfunction and death. The proper functioning of β-cells is a major criterion for preventing advent of type 2 diabetes. The different natural or physiological insulin secretagogues include glucose, amino acids and fatty acids, which stimulate insulin secretion under the influence of various hormones like incretins, leptin, growth hormone, melatonin and estrogen. However, excess of nutrients lead to β-cell dysfunction and dearth of insulin involving various signal molecules like SIRT1, PPARγ, TLR4, NF-ΚB, Wnt, mTOR, inflammasomes, MCP1, EGFR, and Nrf2. A deeper insight into the functioning of these signaling molecules will also create new avenues for therapeutic interventions of curing β-cell dysfunction and death.

**Keywords:** insulin resistance, pancreatic β-cell dysfunction, lipotoxicity, glucotoxicity, type 2 diabetes
