Metabolism
Abstract
Adipose tissue lipolysis supplies circulating FFAs, which largely meet lipid fuel needs; however, excess FFAs, can contribute to the adverse health consequences of obesity. Because “normal” FFA release has not been well defined, average (mean of 4 days) basal FFA release and its potential regulation factors were measured in 50 lean and obese adults (25 women). Resting energy expenditure (REE), but not body composition, predicted most of the interindividual variation in FFA release. There was a significant, positive linear relationship between palmitate release and REE; however, women released approximately 40% more FFA than men relative to REE. Neither plasma palmitate concentrations nor respiratory quotient by indirect calorimetry differed between men and women. Glucose release rates were not different in men and women whether related to REE or fat free mass. These findings indicate that nonoxidative FFA clearance is greater in women than in men. This could be an advantage at times of increased fuel needs. We conclude that “normal” adipose tissue lipolysis is different in men and women and that the fuel export role of adipose tissue in obesity will need to be reassessed.
Authors
Søren Nielsen, ZengKui Guo, Jeanine B. Albu, Samuel Klein, Peter C. O’Brien, Michael D. Jensen
Abstract
Bone marrow harbors cells that have the capacity to differentiate into cells of nonhematopoietic tissues of neuronal, endothelial, epithelial, and muscular phenotype. Here we demonstrate that bone marrow–derived cells populate pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Bone marrow cells from male mice that express, using a CRE-LoxP system, an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) if the insulin gene is actively transcribed were transplanted into lethally irradiated recipient female mice. Four to six weeks after transplantation, recipient mice revealed Y chromosome and EGFP double-positive cells in their pancreatic islets. Neither bone marrow cells nor circulating peripheral blood nucleated cells of donor or recipient mice had any detectable EGFP. EGFP-positive cells purified from islets express insulin, glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2), and transcription factors typically found in pancreatic β cells. Furthermore, in vitro these bone marrow–derived cells exhibit — as do pancreatic β cells — glucose-dependent and incretin-enhanced insulin secretion. These results indicate that bone marrow harbors cells that have the capacity to differentiate into functionally competent pancreatic endocrine β cells and that represent a source for cell-based treatment of diabetes mellitus. The results generated with the CRE-LoxP system also suggest that in vivo cell fusion is an unlikely explanation for the “transdifferentiation” of bone marrow–derived cells into differentiated cell phenotypes.
Authors
Andreea Ianus, George G. Holz, Neil D. Theise, Mehboob A. Hussain
Abstract
To elucidate the function of PPARγ in leptin-deficient mouse (ob/ob) liver, a PPARγ liver-null mouse on an ob/ob background, ob/ob-PPARγ(fl/fl)AlbCre+, was produced using a floxed PPARγ allele, PPARγ(fl/fl), and Cre recombinase under control of the albumin promoter (AlbCre). The liver of ob/ob-PPARγ(fl/fl)AlbCre+ mice had a deletion of exon 2 and a corresponding loss of full-length PPARγ mRNA and protein. The PPARγ-deficient liver in ob/ob mice was smaller and had a dramatically decreased triglyceride (TG) content compared with equivalent mice lacking the AlbCre transgene (ob/ob-PPARγ(fl/fl)AlbCre–). Messenger RNA levels of the hepatic lipogenic genes, fatty acid synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1, were reduced in ob/ob-PPARγ(fl/fl)AlbCre+ mice, and the levels of serum TG and FFA in ob/ob-PPARγ(fl/fl)AlbCre+ mice were significantly higher than in the control ob/ob-PPARγ(fl/fl)AlbCre– mice. Rosiglitazone treatment exacerbated the fatty liver in ob/ob-PPARγ(fl/fl)AlbCre– mice compared with livers from nonobese Cre– mice; there was no effect of rosiglitazone in ob/ob-PPARγ(fl/fl)AlbCre+ mice. The deficiency of hepatic PPARγ further aggravated the severity of diabetes in ob/ob mice due to decreased insulin sensitivity in muscle and fat. These data indicate that hepatic PPARγ plays a critical role in the regulation of TG content and in the homeostasis of blood glucose and insulin resistance in steatotic diabetic mice.
Authors
Kimihiko Matsusue, Martin Haluzik, Gilles Lambert, Sun-Hee Yim, Oksana Gavrilova, Jerrold M. Ward, Bryan Brewer Jr., Marc L. Reitman, Frank J. Gonzalez
Insulin signaling is required for insulin’s direct and indirect action on hepatic glucose production
Abstract
We and others have suggested that insulin predominantly acts indirectly to inhibit hepatic glucose production (HGP) via suppression of gluconeogenic precursors, FFAs, and glucagon. To test that hypothesis, we performed high-dose hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps using [3-3H]-glucose in liver-specific insulin receptor knockout (LIRKO) mice, LIRKO mice treated with streptozotocin (LIRKO+STZ), and controls. In LIRKO mice, fasted glucose was normal, but insulin levels were elevated tenfold. STZ treatment reduced insulinemia by 60% with resulting hyperglycemia. Interestingly, basal HGP was similar in all three groups. During the clamp, HGP was suppressed by 82 ± 17% in controls, but was not suppressed in either LIRKO or LIRKO+STZ mice. Glucose infusion and utilization were impaired (∼50%) in LIRKO and LIRKO+STZ mice versus controls. Insulin suppressed FFAs similarly in all groups (∼46%). Glucagon was not significantly suppressed during the clamp. Thus, in LIRKO mice, (a) high-dose insulin fails to suppress HGP indicating that both direct and indirect effects of insulin require an intact insulin-signaling pathway in the liver; (b) primary hepatic insulin resistance leads to hyperinsulinemia and secondary extrahepatic insulin resistance; and (c) lowering insulin levels with STZ tended to improve extrahepatic insulin sensitivity but failed to reveal the previously postulated indirect role of insulin in suppressing HGP.
Authors
Simon J. Fisher, C. Ronald Kahn
Abstract
Phosphocreatine (PCr) resynthesis rate following intense anoxic contraction can be used as a sensitive index of in vivo mitochondrial function. We examined the effect of a diet-induced increase in uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) expression on postexercise PCr resynthesis in skeletal muscle. Nine healthy male volunteers undertook 20 one-legged maximal voluntary contractions with limb blood flow occluded to deplete muscle PCr stores. Exercise was performed following 7 days consumption of low-fat (LF) or high-fat (HF) diets. Immediately following exercise, blood flow was reinstated, and muscle was sampled after 20, 60, and 120 seconds of recovery. Mitochondrial coupling was assessed by determining the rate of PCr resynthesis during recovery. The HF diet increased UCP3 protein content by approximately 44% compared with the LF diet. However, this HF diet–induced increase in UCP3 expression was not associated with any changes in the rate of muscle PCr resynthesis during conditions of maximal flux through oxidative phosphorylation. Muscle acetylcarnitine, free-creatine, and lactate concentrations during recovery were unaffected by the HF diet. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that increasing muscle UCP3 expression does not diminish the rate of PCr resynthesis, allowing us to conclude that the primary role of UCP3 in humans is not uncoupling.
Authors
Matthijs K.C. Hesselink, Paul L. Greenhaff, Dimitru Constantin-Teodosiu, Eric Hultman, Wim H.M. Saris, Robby Nieuwlaat, Gert Schaart, Esther Kornips, Patrick Schrauwen
Abstract
Hedgehog proteins modulate development and patterning of the embryonic nervous system. As expression of desert hedgehog and the hedgehog receptor, patched-1, persist in the postnatal and adult peripheral nerves, the hedgehog pathway may have a role in maturation and maintenance of the peripheral nervous system in normal and disease states. We measured desert hedgehog expression in the peripheral nerve of maturing diabetic rats and found that diabetes caused a significant reduction in desert hedgehog mRNA. Treating diabetic rats with a sonic hedgehog–IgG fusion protein fully restored motor- and sensory-nerve conduction velocities and maintained the axonal caliber of large myelinated fibers. Diabetes-induced deficits in retrograde transport of nerve growth factor and sciatic-nerve levels of calcitonin gene–related product and neuropeptide Y were also ameliorated by treatment with the sonic hedgehog–IgG fusion protein, as was thermal hypoalgesia in the paw. These studies implicate disruption of normal hedgehog function in the etiology of diabetes-induced peripheral-nerve dysfunction and indicate that delivery of exogenous hedgehog proteins may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy.
Authors
Nigel A. Calcutt, Karen L. Allendoerfer, Andrew P. Mizisin, Alicia Middlemas, Jason D. Freshwater, Monica Burgers, Rigel Ranciato, Jean-Dominique Delcroix, Frederick R. Taylor, Renee Shapiro, Kathy Strauch, Henryk Dudek, Thomas M. Engber, Alphonse Galdes, Lee L. Rubin, David R. Tomlinson
Abstract
Endothelial lipase (EL) is a recently discovered member of the lipoprotein lipase gene family that hydrolyzes HDL phospholipids ex vivo and reduces HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels when overexpressed in vivo in mice. To gain further insight into the physiological role of EL in the metabolism of HDL in vivo, studies were performed in which EL was inhibited in wild-type, hepatic lipase knockout (HL–/–), and human apoA-I transgenic mice by intravenous infusion of a polyclonal antibody inhibitory to murine EL. As compared with infusion of a control antibody, infusion of the inhibitory antibody resulted in a 25–60% increase in HDL-C levels in the three mouse models, with the peak HDL-C levels occurring at 48 hours after injection. Inhibition of EL also generated larger HDL particles in the HL–/– mice. The clearance of HDL phospholipid was significantly slower in human apoA-I transgenic mice injected with an antibody against murine EL (mEL) than in mice injected with a control antibody. We conclude that inhibition of EL results in increased HDL-C levels and that EL is an important enzyme in the physiological regulation of HDL metabolism.
Authors
Weijun Jin, John S. Millar, Uli Broedl, Jane M. Glick, Daniel J. Rader
Abstract
Dimeric Fc receptor (FcR) nonbinding anti-CD3 antibodies have been developed to minimize toxicities associated with classical anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies (e.g., OKT3). Studies with murine analogs of non-FcR–binding antibodies have shown reduced mitogenicity compared to OKT3. In a trial of an FcR nonbinding humanized anti-CD3 mAb hOKT3γ1(Ala-Ala) for treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes, we found significant increases in IL-10 and IL-5 in the serum of 63% and 72% of patients, respectively, and TNF-α and IL-6 levels that were lower than those previously reported following OKT3 therapy. The activation signal delivered by hOKT3γ1(Ala-Ala) was associated with calcium signaling and cytokine production by previously activated human cells in vitro. However, the production of IL-10, compared to IFN-γ on a molar basis, was greater after culture with hOKT3γ1(Ala-Ala) than with OKT3. Flow cytometric studies confirmed that OKT3 induced IFN-γ and IL-10 production, but hOKT3γ1(Ala-Ala) induced only detectable IL-10 production in CD45RO+ cells. Moreover, in vivo, we found IL-10+CD4+ T cells after drug treatment. These cells were heterogeneous but generally CD45RO+, CTLA-4–, and expressed CCR4. A subgroup of these cells expressed TGF-β. Thus, the non-FcR binding anti-CD3 mAb, hOKT3γ1(Ala-Ala) delivers an activation signal to T cells that is quantitatively and qualitatively different from OKT3. It leads to the generation of T cells that might inhibit the autoimmune response and may be involved in the beneficial effect on β cell destruction in Type 1 diabetes.
Authors
Kevan C. Herold, Joshua B. Burton, Fleur Francois, Ena Poumian-Ruiz, Mariela Glandt, Jeffrey A. Bluestone
Abstract
The adipose-derived hormone resistin is postulated to link obesity to insulin resistance and diabetes. Here, the infusion of either resistin or the resistin-like molecule–β (RELMβ) rapidly induced severe hepatic but not peripheral insulin resistance. In the presence of physiologic hyperinsulinemia, the infusion of purified recombinant resistin, increasing circulating resistin levels by approximately twofold to 15-fold, inhibited glucose metabolism such that lower rates of glucose infusion were required to maintain the plasma glucose concentration at basal levels. The effects of resistin and RELMβ on in vivo insulin action were completely accounted for by a marked increase in the rate of glucose production. These results support the notion that a novel family of fat- and gut-derived circulating proteins modulates hepatic insulin action.
Authors
Michael W. Rajala, Silvana Obici, Philipp E. Scherer, Luciano Rossetti
Abstract
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is viewed as a fuel sensor for glucose and lipid metabolism. To better understand the physiological role of AMPK, we generated a knockout mouse model in which the AMPKα2 catalytic subunit gene was inactivated. AMPKα2–/– mice presented high glucose levels in the fed period and during an oral glucose challenge associated with low insulin plasma levels. However, in isolated AMPKα2–/– pancreatic islets, glucose- and L-arginine–stimulated insulin secretion were not affected. AMPKα2–/– mice have reduced insulin-stimulated whole-body glucose utilization and muscle glycogen synthesis rates assessed in vivo by the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp technique. Surprisingly, both parameters were not altered in mice expressing a dominant-negative mutant of AMPK in skeletal muscle. Furthermore, glucose transport was normal in incubated isolated AMPKα2–/– muscles. These data indicate that AMPKα2 in tissues other than skeletal muscles regulates insulin action. Concordantly, we found an increased daily urinary catecholamine excretion in AMPKα2–/– mice, suggesting altered function of the autonomic nervous system that could explain both the impaired insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity observed in vivo. Therefore, extramuscular AMPKα2 catalytic subunit is important for whole-body insulin action in vivo, probably through modulation of sympathetic nervous activity.
Authors
Benoit Viollet, Fabrizio Andreelli, Sebastian B. Jørgensen, Christophe Perrin, Alain Geloen, Daisy Flamez, James Mu, Claudia Lenzner, Olivier Baud, Myriam Bennoun, Emmanuel Gomas, Gaël Nicolas, Jørgen F.P. Wojtaszewski, Axel Kahn, David Carling, Frans C. Schuit, Morris J. Birnbaum, Erik A. Richter, Rémy Burcelin, Sophie Vaulont
Copyright © 2019 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)