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Exposure to sunshine could slow down weight gain and the development of type 2 diabetes, research on mice suggests. Writing in Diabetes, scientists from Edinburgh, Southampton and Australia found that shining UV light on overfed mice made them eat less. But vitamin D, produced by the body in response to sunlight, did not appear to play a role, the study said. More research is needed to find out if sunshine has the same effect in people, experts said. The research team said their results should be interpreted cautiously because mice are nocturnal animals, covered in fur, which are not usually exposed to much sunlight. After treatment with ultraviolet light, the mice in the study also displayed fewer of the warning signs of type 2 diabetes, such as abnormal glucose levels and insulin resistance. These effects of the UV treatment were linked to nitric oxide, which is released by the skin after exposure to sunlight. When a cream containing this compound was applied to the skin of the mice, it had the same effect.