Previous studies have shown that glycation of insulin occurs in pancreatic beta-cells under conditions of hyperglycaemia and that the site of glycation is the N-terminal Phe(1) of the insulin B-chain. To enable evaluation of glycated insulin in diabetes, specific antibodies were raised in rabbits and guinea-pigs by using two synthetic peptides (A: Phe-Val-Asn-Gln-His-Leu-Cys-Tyr, and B: Phe-Val-Asn-Gln-His-Leu-Tyr-Lys) modified by N-terminal glycation and corresponding closely to the N-terminal sequence of the glycated human insulin B-chain. For immunization, the glycated peptides were conjugated either to keyhole limpet haemocyanin or ovalbumin using glutaraldehyde, m-maleimidobenzoyl-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester or 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylamino propyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride. Antibody titration curves, obtained using I(125)-tyrosylated tracer prepared from glycated peptide A, revealed high-titre antisera in five groups of animals immunized for 8-28 weeks. The highest titres were observed in rabbits and guinea-pigs immunized with peptide B coupled to ovalbumin using glutaraldehyde. Under radioimmunoassay conditions, these antisera exhibited effective dose (median) (ED(50)) values for glycated insulin of 0.3-15 ng/ml and 0.9-2.5 ng/ml respectively, with negligible cross-reactivity against insulin or other islet peptides. The degree of cross-reaction with glycated proinsulin was approximately 50%. Glycated insulin in plasma of control and hydrocortisone-treated diabetic rats measured using rabbit 3 antiserum (1:10 000 dilution; sensitivity <19 pg/ml) was 0. 08+/-0.01 and 1.5+/-0.6 ng/ml (P<0.01), corresponding to 4 and 16% of total circulating insulin concentration respectively. Immunocytochemistry studies of the pancreas of streptozotocin-treated diabetic rats using a 1:1000 dilution of guinea-pig 2 antiserum revealed clusters of fluorescent positively stained cells in islets. These studies document the successful production of polyclonal antisera specific for glycated insulin and their usefulness in radioimmunoassays and immunocytochemistry. The demonstration of glycated insulin in plasma and islets of animal models of diabetes supports the view that glycation of insulin is involved in the pathogenesis of this disease.
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AM McKillop, JT McCluskey, AC Boyd, MH Mooney, PR Flatt, and FP O'Harte
F M Reis, A M Reis, and C C Coimbra
Abstract
It has been shown that prolactin (PRL) induces glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance in several animal species, including rats. However, the sex differences regarding glucose homeostasis and insulin release in hyperprolactinaemic subjects have not been assessed to date. In the present study, hyperprolactinaemic (pituitary-grafted) or control (sham-operated) male and female rats were submitted to an i.v. glucose tolerance test (30 mg/100 g body weight, 30% glucose). Grafted female rats had fasting plasma glucose concentrations 26% above control (P<0·01). After the glucose load there was a rapid and pronounced increase in plasma glucose levels in all animal groups, followed by a return to basal values within 30 min. However, the glucose concentrations in hyperprolactinaemic rats were significantly greater than those in controls at 5 min (males, P<0·05) and 30 min (females, P<0·05). The glucose disappearance rate was significantly increased in the grafted females compared with control (P<0·01) and slightly increased in the grafted males. Plasma insulin concentration increased just after glucose load and returned to basal values within 5 min in all groups except for the grafted females, which had recovered their basal insulin levels at 15 min. The grafted male rats had insulin concentrations higher than those of sham-operated controls at 2 min (28·9 ± 3·6 vs 17·3 ± 2·1 μU/ml, P<0·01), whereas females had plasma insulin concentrations greater than those in sham-operated controls 10 min after the glucose load (15·9 ± 1·9 vs 10·1 ± 1·4 μU/ml, P<0·05). The areas under the plasma insulin concentration–time curves were also significantly increased in the hyperprolactinaemic rats and were positively correlated with plasma PRL concentrations (r=0·613, P<0·01). These results demonstrate that moderate chronic hyperprolactinaemia is associated with increased glucose-induced insulin release, which was altered at different times after the glucose load in grafted male and female rats, whereas fasting hyperglycaemia was observed only in grafted females, indicating a sexual dimorphism in the diabetogenic effects of PRL in rats.
Journal of Endocrinology (1997) 153, 423–428
BA Reul, DJ Becker, LN Ongemba, CJ Bailey, JC Henquin, and SM Brichard
Molybdate (Mo) exerts insulinomimetic effects in vitro. In this study, we evaluated whether Mo can improve glucose homeostasis in genetically obese, insulin-resistant ob/ob mice. Oral administration of Mo (174 mg/kg molybdenum element) for 7 weeks did not affect body weight, but decreased the hyperglycaemia (approximately 20 mM) of obese mice to the levels of lean (L) (+/+) mice, and reduced the hyperinsulinaemia to one-sixth of pretreatment levels. Tolerance to oral glucose was improved: total glucose area was 30% lower in Mo-treated mice than in untreated ob/ob mice (O), while the total insulin area was halved. Hepatic glucokinase (GK) mRNA level and activity were unchanged in O mice compared with L mice, but the mRNA level and activity of L-type pyruvate kinase (L-PK) were increased in O mice by 3.5- and 1.7-fold respectively. Mo treatment increased GK mRNA levels and activity (by approximately 2.2-fold and 61% compared with O values), and had no, or only a mild, effect on the already increased L-PK variables. mRNA levels and activity of the gluconeogenic enzyme, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) were augmented in O liver (sixfold and by 57% respectively), and these were reduced by Mo treatment. Insulin binding to partially purified receptors from liver was reduced in O mice and restored by Mo treatment. Despite this correction, overall receptor tyrosine kinase activity was not improved in Mo mice. Moreover, the overexpression (by two- to fourfold) of the cytokine tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) in white adipose tissue, which may have a determinant role in the insulin resistance of the O mice, was unaffected by Mo. Likewise, overexpression of the ob gene in white adipose tissue was unchanged by Mo. In conclusion, Mo markedly improved glucose homeostasis in the ob/ob mice by an insulin-like action which appeared to be exerted distal to the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase step. The blood glucose-lowering effect of Mo was unrelated to over-expression of the TNF alpha and ob genes in O mice, but resulted at least in part from attenuation of liver insulin resistance by the reversal of pre-translational regulatory defects in these mice.
S B Bowes, N C Jackson, D Papachristodoulou, A M Umpleby, and P H Sönksen
Abstract
The net catabolic effect of glucocorticoids on protein metabolism is well documented but the acute and chronic effect of glucocorticoids on protein breakdown remains controversial. In the present studies protein breakdown was measured by the release of tyrosine from the isolated soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles of control rats and rats treated with corticosterone (10 mg/100 g body weight/day) for 5 days.
The effect of corticosterone in arresting growth was confirmed since corticosterone-treated rats weighed significantly less than control rats after 2, 3, 4 and 5 days of treatment (P<0·001). Furthermore, the weights of soleus and EDL muscles from corticosterone-treated rats were significantly reduced (P<0·001, at least P<0·05 respectively) compared with muscles from control rats on days 3–5.
In the EDL muscle tyrosine release was significantly elevated after corticosterone treatment for 2 days (257 ± 21 nmol/g tissue/h, P<0·05), 3 days (205 ± 9 nmol/g tissue/h, P<0·01), 4 days (255 ± 20 nmol/g tissue/h, P<0·005) and 5 days (218 ± 8 nmol/g tissue/h, P<0·05) compared with EDL from control rats (192 ± 13, 171 ± 7, 187 ± 7, 180 ± 12 nmol/g tissue/h respectively). In the soleus muscle, tyrosine release was significantly elevated after corticosterone treatment for 2 days (226 ± 14 nmol/g tissue/h, P<0·001), 3 days (223 ± 16 nmol/g tissue/h, P<0·001) and 4 days (199 ± 10 nmol/g tissue/h, P<0·001) compared with control rats (158 ± 7, 132 ± 6 and 153 ± 7 nmol/g tissue/h respectively). After 5 days there was no significant difference in tyrosine release from soleus muscle between corticosterone-treated (176 ± 15 nmol/g tissue/h) and control rats (157 ± 6 nmol/g tissue/h). Plasma glucose concentrations were not significantly different in rats treated with corticosterone and control rats whilst insulin levels were significantly raised in the corticosterone-treated rats on all days compared with control rats (P<0·05 on day 1; P<0·001 on days 2, 3, 4 and 5). It is suggested that insulin may have prevented hyperglycaemia developing in the corticosterone-treated rats. Results from these studies indicate that the acute effect of glucocorticoids is to increase muscle proteolysis but this is not maintained with longer-term treatment.
Journal of Endocrinology (1996) 148, 501–507
R Lanzi, M Lapointe, W Gurd, and G S Tannenbaum
Abstract
The GH-releasing activity of the α2-adrenergic agonist clonidine has been extensively studied in the rat, but the mechanism(s) by which clonidine stimulates GH release remains controversial. In the present study, we examined the effects of various doses of clonidine on spontaneous pulsatile GH secretion in conscious rats, and tested the hypothesis that the GH-releasing activity of clonidine is mediated primarily by an inhibition of hypothalamic somatostatin (SRIF) release. In the first experiment, free-moving adult male rats were given either saline or various doses of clonidine i.v. (30, 50 and 125 μg/kg) at times of spontaneous peaks (1100 h) and troughs (1300 h) in the GH rhythm. Clonidine, at all doses tested, failed to stimulate GH release when administered at the time of a spontaneous peak. In contrast, injection of clonidine at trough times (when SRIF tone is high) consistently augmented plasma GH levels (mean ± s.e.m. integrated GH release; 30 μg/kg, 1843·0±484·0; 50 μg/kg, 1469·0± 490·3; 125 μg/kg, 1675·6 ± 513·4 vs 201·3 ± 100·1 ng/ml per 45 min in saline-injected controls; P<0·05 or less). No significant regression was observed between increasing doses of clonidine and GH release. In the second experiment, i.v. administration of 30 μg clonidine/kg during a GH trough period, 30 min prior to GH-releasing factor (GRF) challenge, significantly potentiated the GH response to GRF compared with rats given saline (7218·7 ±806·6 vs 4206·9 ± 1068·1 ng/ml per 30 min; P<0·05). Clonidine treatment, at all doses tested, resulted in hyperglycaemia and behavioural effects. These results showed that: (1) clonidine is not a potent GH secretagogue in the rat; (2) when administered i.v., clonidine exerts a maximal GH-releasing activity already at the dose of 30 μg/kg; and (3) clonidine-induced GH release in the rat occurs mainly through an inhibition of hypothalamic SRIF release rather than by stimulating GRF secretion.
Journal of Endocrinology (1994) 141, 259–266
James Cantley and Decio Eizirik
hyperglycaemia, an array of co-morbidities and increased mortality. During type 1 diabetes (T1D), beta cells are targeted by the immune system leading to a profound loss of insulin secretion. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is the most prevalent form (~90% of cases
Benjamin J Lamont and Sofianos Andrikopoulos
cope with the required excess insulin secretory capacity and hyperglycaemia ensues ( Bonner-Weir et al . 1983 ). Therefore, a few studies have examined whether GLP1R agonists could increase β-cell mass in this situation. In one study, exenatide was
Ivan Quesada, Eva Tudurí, Cristina Ripoll, and Ángel Nadal
, which seems to be critical in maintaining hyperglycaemia in diabetic patients ( Dunning et al . 2005 ). Despite the importance of the α-cell and glucagon secretion in the regulation of glycaemia and nutrient homeostasis, little is known about the
Bishnu Adhikari, Prabhat Khanal, and Mette Olaf Nielsen
response to nutrient restriction during foetal life ( Reusens & Remacle 2006 ). We have previously reported that exposure to an obesogenic, high-fat diet in early postnatal life resulted in hyperglycaemia and insulin resistance in adolescent lambs with a
Courtney A Deck, Jamie L Mankiewicz, and Russell J Borski
that leptin is glycogenolytic and induces hyperglycaemia in lizards and most fish species studied to date ( Paolucci et al. 2006 , Aguilar et al. 2010 , Baltzegar et al. 2014 , Douros et al. 2014 , Liu et al. 2018 ), while in mammals, it
