FUT2 non-secretor status is associated with Type 1 diabetes susceptibility in Japanese children.

AIM: To examine the contribution of the FUT2 gene and ABO blood type to the development of Type 1 diabetes in Japanese children. METHODS: We analysed FUT2 variants and ABO genotypes in a total of 531 Japanese children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and 448 control subjects. The possible association of FUT2 variants and ABO genotypes with the onset of Type 1 diabetes was statistically examined. RESULTS: The se2 genotype (c.385A>T) of the FUT2 gene was found to confer susceptibility to Type 1A diabetes in a recessive effects model [odds ratio for se2/se2, 1.68 (95% CI 1.20-2.35); corrected P value = 0.0075]. CONCLUSIONS: The FUT2 gene contributed to the development of Type 1 diabetes in the present cohort of Japanese children.

Variants associated with autoimmune Type 1 diabetes in Japanese children: implications for age-specific effects of cis-regulatory haplotypes at 17q12-q21.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to clarify the significance of previously reported susceptibility variants in the development of autoimmune Type 1 diabetes in non-white children. Tested variants included rs2290400, which has been linked to Type 1 diabetes only in one study on white people. Haplotypes at 17q12-q21 encompassing rs2290400 are known to determine the susceptibility of early-onset asthma by affecting the expression of flanking genes. METHODS: We genotyped 63 variants in 428 Japanese people with childhood-onset autoimmune Type 1 diabetes and 457 individuals without diabetes. Possible association between variants and age at diabetes onset was examined using age-specific quantitative trait locus analysis and ordered-subset regression analysis. RESULTS: Ten variants, including rs2290400 in GSDMB, were more frequent among the people with Type 1 diabetes than those without diabetes. Of these, rs689 in INS and rs231775 in CTLA4 yielded particularly high odds ratios of 5.58 (corrected P value 0.001; 95% CI 2.15-14.47) and 1.64 (corrected P value 5.3 × 10-5 ; 95% CI 1.34-2.01), respectively. Age-specific effects on diabetes susceptibility were suggested for rs2290400; heterozygosity of the risk alleles was associated with relatively early onset of diabetes, and the allele was linked to the phenotype exclusively in the subgroup of age at onset ≤ 5.0 years. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that rs2290400 in GSDMB and polymorphisms in INS and CTLA4 are associated with the risk of Type 1 diabetes in Japanese children. Importantly, cis-regulatory haplotypes at 17q12-q21 encompassing rs2290400 probably determine the risk of autoimmune Type 1 diabetes predominantly in early childhood.

Reduced carbohydrate intake in citrin-deficient subjects.

Citrin is the liver-type aspartate-glutamate carrier that resides within the inner mitochondrial membrane. Citrin deficiency (due to homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the gene SLC25A13) causes both adult-onset type II citrullinaemia (CTLN2) and neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis (NICCD). Clinically, CTLN2 is characterized by hyperammonaemia and citrullinaemia, whereas NICCD has a much more varied and transient presentation that can include multiple aminoacidaemias, hypoproteinaemia, galactosaemia, hypoglycaemia, and jaundice. Personal histories from CTLN2 patients have repeatedly described an aversion to carbohydrate-rich foods, and clinical observations of dietary and therapeutic outcomes have suggested that their unusual food preferences may be directly related to their pathophysiology. In the present study, we monitored the food intake of 18 Japanese citrin-deficient subjects whose ages ranged from 1 to 33 years, comparing them against published values for the general Japanese population. Our survey confirmed a marked decrease in carbohydrate intake, which accounts for a smaller proportion of carbohydrates contributing to the total energy intake (PFC ratio) as well as a shift towards a lower centile distribution for carbohydrate intake relative to age- and sex-matched controls. These results strongly support an avoidance of carbohydrate-rich foods by citrin-deficient patients that may lead to worsening of symptoms.

The distributions of apoptotic cells in the medial preoptic areas of male and female neonatal rats.

The medial preoptic area (MPA) of the hypothalamus of the rat contains two sexually dimorphic nuclei, the periventricular preoptic nucleus (PVpo) and the medial preoptic nucleus (MPN). To examine the relationship between sexual dimorphism and neuronal death, we examined the number of apoptotic cells in the subdivisions of the MPA in neonatal rats of postnatal days 1 (P1), 4 (P4), 7 (P7) and 14 (P14). Apoptotic cells in these areas were classified according to their progression into three stages. P1 and P4 rats contained many apoptotic cells in the subfield along the third ventricle, including the PVpo, and their number was significantly larger in P1 males: in particular, the number of early-stage cells was larger in males than females. The number of apoptotic cells in the MPN was increased in P4 and P7 rats, although no significant sexual differences were seen in the total number or in the number of each progressive stage of apoptotic cells. In P14 rats, very few apoptotic cells were seen in the MPA. Our data revealed that the distribution of apoptotic cells in the MPA of developing rats depends on the sexuality, subdivision of the area and postnatal period.

Stimulation of oxygen uptake by glucagon is oxygen dependent in perfused rat liver.

Livers from well-fed female Sprague-Dawley rats (100-150 g) were perfused at flow rates of 4 or 8 ml.g liver-1.min-1 to deliver O2 to the organ at various rates. During perfusion at normal flow rates (4 ml.g-1.min-1), glucagon (10 nM) increased O2 uptake in perfused liver by approximately 40 mumol.g-1.h-1. In contrast, glucagon increased O2 uptake by nearly 100 mumol.g-1.h-1 when livers were perfused at high flow rates. Increase in O2 uptake was directly proportional to flow rate and was blocked partially by infusion of phorbol myristate acetate (100 nM) before glucagon. Increase in O2 uptake due to elevated flow was not due to enhanced glucagon delivery, since infusion of 120 nM glucagon at normal flow rates only increased O2 uptake by approximately 40 mumol.g-1.h-1. On the other hand, when O2 tension in the perfusate was manipulated at normal flow rates, the stimulation of O2 uptake by glucagon increased proportional to the average O2 tension in the liver. Infusion of 8-bromo-adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (BrcAMP; 25 microM) also increased O2 uptake more than twice as much at high compared with normal flow rates. In the presence of angiotensin II (5 nM), a hormone that increases intracellular calcium, glucagon increased O2 uptake by nearly 100 mumol.g-1.h-1 at normal flow rates. Infusion of glucagon or BrcAMP into livers perfused at normal flow rates increased state 3 rates of O2 uptake of subsequently isolated mitochondria significantly by approximately 25%. In contrast, perfusion with glucagon or BrcAMP at high flow rates increased mitochondrial respiration by 50-60%. Glucagon addition acutely to suspensions of mitochondria, however, had no effect on O2 uptake. These data are consistent with reports that glucagon administration in vivo or treatment of intact cells with glucagon increases O2 uptake of subsequently isolated mitochondria, a phenomenon that can account for the observed increase in O2 uptake in livers perfused at high flow rates with glucagon. Furthermore, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that the effect of glucagon on mitochondria is O2 dependent in the perfused liver. This is most likely due to an effect of intracellular calcium on a mechanism mediated via cAMP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Potential intercellular futile cycling of carbohydrates in diabetes.

Diabetes was induced by treating rats with alloxan, and was confirmed by blood glucose values greater than 250 mg/dl. In perfused livers from both normal and diabetic rats, basal rates of O2 uptake were similar (120-130 mumol/h per g). In livers from diabetic rats, basal rates of glucose output of 60 mumol/h per g declined to around 20 mumol/h per g during 1 h of perfusion. Basal glucose production was abolished by pretreatment with an inhibitor of glycogen synthesis, galactosamine (1.5 g/kg), injected 3 h before perfusion. The subsequent infusion of lactate (2 mM) increased O2 uptake and glucose production about 40-50 mumol/h per g in both groups; however, the average maximal increase in glucose output was nearly twice as high in livers from normal (33 mumol/h per g) as from diabetic (18 mumol/h per g) rats. Rates of lactate uptake were also about 50% lower in livers from diabetic than from normal rats, yet rates of ketone-body formation were similar. Miniature O2 electrodes placed on periportal and pericentral regions of the liver lobule were employed to measure local rates of O2 uptake before, during and after infusion of lactate by stopping the flow of perfusate through the liver and measuring the decrease in local [O2]. Local rates of glucose production were calculated from the extra O2 consumed and the known stoichiometry between O2 uptake and glucose production from lactate. In livers from normal rats, glucose was synthesized predominantly in periportal regions of the liver lobule; however, glucose was produced exclusively in periportal regions in livers from diabetic rats. In pericentral regions, O2 uptake increased slightly in livers from normal rats, but declined significantly by 10 mumol/h per g in livers from diabetic rats. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that gluconeogenesis from lactate occurs exclusively in periportal regions of the liver lobule in livers from diabetic rats. A portion of this glucose is metabolized back to lactate in pericentral areas, leading to increased rates of glycolytic ATP production, thereby decreasing the demands for O2. This production of glucose from lactate in periportal regions, followed by conversion of glucose back into lactate in pericentral areas, raises the possibility of intercellular futile cycling, stimulated by diabetes.

Pivalate affects carnitine status but causes no severe metabolic changes in rat liver.

To investigate the carnitine deficiency induced by pivalate, rats had free access to drinking water with or without pivalate. Consumption of 20 mmol/L pivalate for 1 wk decreased the levels of both free and total carnitine in plasma to approximately 20% of levels before treatment. After 4 wk, the concentrations of free carnitine in the liver, heart and muscle of pivalate-treated rats were approximately 60-80% of the control, and in the kidney, 26% of the control. Fractional excretion of free carnitine (FEFC) in pivalate-treated rats was measured; however, the treatment for 3 or 8 d did not affect the values relative to those obtained before treatment. Treatment with pivalate for 4 wk did not affect plasma concentrations of glucose, ammonia and free fatty acids (FFA) in the rats; however, the concentration of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-OHB) was higher, and the FFA/3-OHB ratio was lower than those of controls. In a liver perfusion study, ketogenesis from oleate and gluconeogenesis from lactate and pyruvate in rats treated with pivalate for 4 wk were not different from controls. These results suggest that administration of pivalate did not induce the excessive excretion of free carnitine in urine, and secondary carnitine deficiency induced by intake of 20 mmol/L pivalate for 4 wk did not cause severe metabolic changes in rat liver.