Glutamine deficiency induces lipolysis in adipocytes.

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body, and adipose tissue is one of the glutamine-producing organs. Glutamine has important and unique metabolic functions; however, its effects in adipocytes are still unclear. 3T3-L1 adipocytes produced and secreted glutamine dependent on glutamine synthetase, but preadipocytes did not. The inhibition of glutamine synthetase by l-methionine sulfoximine (MSO) impaired the differentiation of preadipocytes to mature adipocytes, and this inhibitory effect of MSO was rescued by exogenous glutamine supplementation. Glutamine concentrations were low, and Atgl gene expression was high in epididymal white adipose tissues of fasting mice in vivo. In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, glutamine deprivation induced Atgl expression and increased glycerol concentration in culture medium. Atgl expression is regulated by FoxO1, and glutamine deprivation reduced FoxO1 phosphorylation (Ser256), indicating the activation of FoxO1. These results demonstrate that glutamine is necessary for the differentiation of preadipocytes and regulates lipolysis through FoxO1 in mature adipocytes.

Metabolomic Analysis of Diet-Induced Obese Mice Supplemented with Eicosapentaenoic Acid.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is an omega-3 fatty acid with anti-inflammatory effects. To determine the effects of EPA on metabolic pathways in obese adipose tissues and liver, mice were fed normal chow diet (NCD), high-fat diet (HFD), or 3% EPA-containing high fat diet (HFD+EPA) for 8 weeks. Metabolomic analysis was performed using epididymal adipose tissues (epi WAT) and liver. Metabolites that were specifically elevated in HFD+EPA, were assessed for their anti-inflammatory properties using RAW264.7 macrophage cells. Body and adipose tissue weights were significantly higher in HFD than NCD, and lower in HFD+EPA than HFD. Plasma insulin levels were significantly higher in HFD than NCD, and lower in HFD+EPA compared with HFD. Plasma monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) levels were higher in HFD than NCD, and tended to be lower in HFD+EPA than HFD. The levels of intermediate metabolites in the glycolytic pathways were lower in HFD compared with NCD and HFD+EPA in both epi WAT and liver, while intermediate metabolites of the TCA cycles were elevated in HFD and HFD+EPA compared with NCD in epi WAT. Among the metabolites in epi WAT, the levels of thiaproline, phenaceturic acid, and pipecolic acid were specifically elevated in HFD+EPA, but not in HFD or NCD. Treatment of RAW264.7 cells with thiaproline significantly ameliorated LPS-induced iNOS expression, while pipecolic acid inhibited LPS-induced IL-1ß expression. These results suggest that EPA normalizes glycolytic pathway intermediates in both epi WAT and liver, and induces metabolites with anti-inflammatory properties.

Successful treatment of reactive hypoglycemia secondary to late dumping syndrome using miglitol.

We herein describe a 59-year-old woman who had undergone a total gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma and suffered from postprandial hypoglycemia characterized by a loss of consciousness and spasms. She was diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia and treated with nutrition therapy, but the frequency and severity of the hypoglycemic episodes did not decrease. She was subsequently treated successfully with miglitol, an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor (α-GI) taken twice a day; other α-GIs (acarbose and voglibose) were not effective. In conclusion, the administration of miglitol was effective for preventing reactive hypoglycemia secondary to late dumping syndrome.

Effects of estrogen on gene expression profiles in mouse hypothalamus and white adipose tissue: target genes include glutathione peroxidase 3 and cell death-inducing DNA fragmentation factor, alpha-subunit-like effector A.

Obesity has become a major health problem in many parts of the world. Estrogens are known to reduce adipose tissue mass in both humans and animals but the molecular mechanisms are not well characterized. We used gene expression profiling to study long-term effects of estrogen on gene expression in mouse white adipose tissue and hypothalamus. Overall, the effects of estrogen on hypothalamic gene expression were much smaller than the corresponding effects on white adipose tissue gene expression. We characterize in detail estrogenic regulation of glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPX3). Our studies suggest that GPX3 is a direct estrogen receptor alpha target gene in white adipose tissue. Since obesity is correlated with oxidative stress, and GPX3 has been demonstrated to be lower in obesity and higher after weight loss, we hypothesize that GPX3 is one important mediator of effects of estrogen in relation to fat mass. Additional genes that were affected by estrogen in adipose tissue include cell death-inducing DNA fragmentation factor, alpha-subunit-like effector A (CIDEA), a gene shown to be related to body fat in mice. We conclude that estrogen has large effects on gene expression in white adipose tissue and hypothesize that GPX3 and CIDEA could be important mediators of the effects of estrogen on fat mass.