Evidence for a major gene affecting the transition from normoglycaemia to hyperglycaemia in Psammomys obesus.

We investigated the mode of inheritance of nutritionally induced diabetes in the desert gerbil Psammomys obesus (sand rat), following transfer from low-energy (LE) to high-energy (HE) diet which induces hyperglycaemia. Psammomys selected for high or low blood glucose level were used as two parental lines. A first backcross generation (BC(1)) was formed by crossing F(1) males with females of the diabetes-prone line. The resulting 232 BC(1) progeny were assessed for blood glucose. All progeny were weaned at 3 weeks of age (week 0), and their weekly assessment of blood glucose levels proceeded until week 9 after weaning, with all progeny maintained on HE diet. At weeks 1 to 9 post weaning, a clear bimodal distribution statistically different from unimodal distribution of blood glucose was observed, normoglycaemic and hyperglycaemic at a 1:1 ratio. This ratio is expected at the first backcross generation for traits controlled by a single dominant gene. From week 0 (prior to the transfer to HE diet) till week 8, the hyperglycaemic individuals were significantly heavier (4--17%) than the normoglycaemic ones. The bimodal blood glucose distribution in BC(1) generation, with about equal frequencies in each mode, strongly suggests that a single major gene affects the transition from normo- to hyperglycaemia. The wide range of blood glucose values among the hyperglycaemic individuals (180 to 500 mg/dl) indicates that several genes and environmental factors influence the extent of hyperglycaemia. The diabetes-resistant allele appears to be dominant; the estimate for dominance ratio is 0.97.

Antidiabetic effect of novel modulating peptides of G-protein-coupled kinase in experimental models of diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: G-protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) play a key role in agonist-induced desensitisation of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that are involved in metabolic regulation and glucose homeostasis. Our aim was to examine whether small peptides derived from the catalytic domain of GRK2 and -3 would ameliorate Type 2 diabetes in three separate animal models of diabetes. METHODS: Synthetic peptides derived from a kinase-substrate interaction site in GRK2/3 were initially screened for their effect on in vitro melanogenesis, a GRK-mediated process. The most effective peptides were administered intraperitoneally, utilising a variety of dosing regimens, to Psammomys obesus gerbils, Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats, or db/db mice. The metabolic effects of these peptides were assessed by measuring fasting and fed blood glucose levels and glucose tolerance. RESULTS: Two peptides, KRX-683(107) and KRX-683(124), significantly reduced fed-state blood glucose levels in the diabetic Psammomys obesus. In animals treated with KRX-683(124) at a dose of 12.5 mg/kg weekly for 7 weeks, ten of eleven treated animals responded with mean blood glucose significantly lower than controls (4.7+/-0.4 vs 16.8+/-0.8 mmol/l, p

Elevated hypothalamic beacon gene expression in Psammomys obesus prone to develop obesity and type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate hypothalamic beacon gene expression at various developmental stages in genetically selected diabetes-resistant and diabetes-prone Psammomys obesus. In addition, effects of dietary energy composition on beacon gene expression were investigated in diabetes-prone P. obesus. METHODS: Hypothalamic beacon gene expression was measured using Taqman fluorogenic PCR in 4-, 8- and 16-week-old animals from each genetically selected line. RESULTS: Expression of beacon was elevated in the diabetes-prone compared with diabetes-resistant P. obesus at 4 weeks of age despite no difference in body weight between the groups. At 8 weeks of age, hypothalamic beacon gene expression was elevated in diabetes-prone animals fed a high-energy diet, and was correlated with serum insulin concentration. CONCLUSION: P. obesus with a genetic predisposition for the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes have elevated hypothalamic beacon gene expression at an early age. Overexpression of beacon may contribute to the development of obesity and insulin resistance in these animals.

Psammomys obesus and the albino rat--two different models of nutritional insulin resistance, representing two different types of human populations.

Animal models for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are required for the study of the mechanism of these phenomena and for a better understanding of diabetes complications in human populations. Type 2 diabetes is a syndrome that affects 5-10% of the adult population. Hyperinsulinaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, obesity and hypertension, all form a cluster of risk factors that increase the risk of coronary artery disease, and are known as insulin resistance syndrome or syndrome X. The gerbil, Psammomys obesus is characterized by primary insulin resistance and is a well-defined model for dietary induced type 2 diabetes. Weanling Psammomys and Albino rats were held individually for several weeks on high energy (HE) and low energy (LE) diets in order to determine the development of metabolic changes leading to diabetes. Feeding Psammomys on HE diet resulted in hyperglycaemia (303 +/- 40 mg/dl), hyperinsulinaemia (194 +/- 31 microU/ml) and a moderate elevation in body weight, obesity and plasma triglycerides. Albino rats on HE diet demonstrated an elevation in plasma insulin (30 +/- 4 microU/ml), hypertriglyceridaemia (170 +/- 11 mg/dl), an elevation in body weight and obesity, but maintained normoglycaemia (98 +/- 6 mg/dl). Psammomys represent a model that is similar to human populations, with primary insulin resistance expressed in young age, which leads to a high percentage of adult type 2 diabetes. Examples for such populations are the Pima Indians, Australian Aborigines and many other Third World populations. The results indicate that the metabolism of Psammomys is well adapted towards life in a low energy environment, where Psammomys takes advantage of its capacity for a constant accumulation of adipose tissue that will serve for maintenance and breeding in periods of scarcity. This metabolism known as 'thrifty metabolism', is compromised at a high nutrient intake.

Treatment of diabetes with vanadium salts: general overview and amelioration of nutritionally induced diabetes in the Psammomys obesus gerbil.

BACKGROUND: Numerous investigations have demonstrated the beneficial effect of vanadium salts on diabetes in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats, in rodents with genetically determined diabetes and in human subjects. The amelioration of diabetes included the abolition of hyperglycemia, preservation of insulin secretion, reduction in hepatic glucose production, enhanced glycolysis and lipogenesis and improved muscle glucose uptake through GLUT4 elevation and translocation. The molecular basis of vanadium salt action is not yet fully elucidated. Although evidence has been provided that the insulin receptor is activated, the possibility exists that cytosolic non-receptor tyrosine kinase, direct phosphorylation of IRS-1 and activation of PI3-K, leading to GLUT4 translocation, are involved. The raised phosphorylation of proteins in the insulin signaling pathway appears to be related to the inhibition of protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTPase) activity by vanadium salts. NOVEL EXPERIMENTS: The model utilized in our study was Psammomys obesus (sand rat), a desert gerbil which becomes hyperglycemic and hyperinsulinemic on an ad libitum high energy (HE) diet. In contrast to the previously investigated insulin deficient models, vanadyl sulphate was used to correct insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, which led to beta-cell loss. Administration of 5 mg/kg vanadyl sulfate for 5 days resulted in prolonged restoration of normoglycemia and normoinsulinemia in most animals, return of glucose tolerance to normal, and a reduction of hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity. There was no change in food consumption and in regular growth during or after the vanadyl treatment. Pretreatment with vanadyl sulfate, followed by transfer to a HE diet, significantly delayed the onset of hyperglycemia. Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp of vanadyl sulfate treated Psammomys demonstrated an improvement in glucose utilization. However, vanadyl sulfate was ineffective when administered to animals which lost their insulin secretion capacity on protracted HE diet, but substantially reduced the hyperglycemia when given together with exogenous insulin. The in vitro insulin activation of liver and muscle insulin receptors isolated from vanadyl treated Psammomys was ineffective. The in vivo vanadyl treatment restored muscle GLUT4 total protein and mRNA contents in addition to membrane GLUT4 protein, in accordance with the increased glucose utilization during the clamp study. These results indicate that short-term vanadyl sulfate treatment corrects the nutritionally induced, insulin resistant diabetes. This action requires the presence of insulin for its beneficial effect. Thus, vanadyl action in P. obesus appears to be the result of insulin potentiation rather than mimicking, with activation of the signaling pathway proteins leading to GLUT4 translocation, probably distal to the insulin receptor.

Cellular mechanism of nutritionally induced insulin resistance in Psammomys obesus: overexpression of protein kinase Cepsilon in skeletal muscle precedes the onset of hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia.

The sand rat (Psammomys obesus) is an animal model of nutritionally induced diabetes. We report here that several protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms (alpha, epsilon, and zeta, representing all three subclasses of PKC) are overexpressed in the skeletal muscle of diabetic animals of this species. This is most prominent for the epsilon isotype of PKC. Interestingly, increased expression of PKCepsilon could already be detected in normoinsulinemic, normoglycemic (prediabetic) animals of the diabetes-prone (DP) line when compared with a diabetes-resistant (DR) line. In addition, plasma membrane (PM)-associated fractions of PKCalpha and PKCepsilon were significantly increased in skeletal muscle of diabetic animals, suggesting chronic activation of these PKC isotypes in the diabetic state. The increased PM association of these PKC isotypes revealed a significant correlation with the diacylglycerol content in the muscle samples. Altered expression/activity of PKCepsilon, in particular, may thus contribute to the development of diabetes in these animals; along with other PKC isotypes, it may be involved in the progression of the disease. This may possibly occur through inhibition of insulin receptor (IR) tyrosine kinase activity mediated by serine/threonine phosphorylation of the IR or insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1). However, overexpression of PKCepsilon also mediated down-regulation of IR numbers in a cell culture model (HEK293), resulting in attenuation of insulin downstream signaling (reduced protein kinase B [PKB]/Akt activity). In accordance with this, we detected decreased 125I-labeled insulin binding, probably reflecting a downregulation of IR numbers, in skeletal muscle of Psammomys animals from the DP line. The number of IRs was inversely correlated to both the expression and PM-associated levels of PKCepsilon. These data suggest that overexpression of PKCepsilon may be causally related to the development of insulin resistance in these animals, possibly by increasing the degradation of IRs.

Albert Renold memorial lecture: molecular background of nutritionally induced insulin resistance leading to type 2 diabetes--from animal models to humans.

Albert Renold strived to gain insight into the abnormalities of human diabetes by defining the pathophysiology of the disease peculiar to a given animal. He investigated the Israeli desert-derived spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus), which became obese on fat-rich seed diet. After a few months hyperplasia and hypertrophy of beta-cells occurred leading to a sudden rupture, insulin loss and ketosis. Spiny mice were low insulin responders, which is probably a characteristic of certain desert animals, protecting against insulin oversecretion when placed on an abundant diet. We have compared the response to overstimulation of several mutant diabetic species and nutritionally induced nonmutant animals when placed on affluent diet. Some endowed with resilient beta-cells sustain long-lasting oversecretion, compensating for the insulin resistance, without lapsing into overt diabetes. Some with labile beta cells exhibit apoptosis and lose their capacity of coping with insulin resistance after a relatively short period. The wide spectrum of response to insulin resistance among different diabetes prone species seems to represent the varying response of human beta cells among the populations. In search for the molecular background of insulin resistance resulting from overnutrition we have studied the Israeli desert gerbil Psammomys obesus (sand rat), which progresses through hyperinsulinemia, followed by hyperglycemia and irreversible beta cell loss. Insulin resistance was found to be the outcome of reduced activation of muscle insulin receptor tyrosine kinase by insulin, in association with diminished GLUT4 protein and DNA content and overexpression of PKC isoenzymes, notably of PKCepsilon. This overexpression and translocation to the membrane was discernible even prior to hyperinsulinemia and may reflect the propensity to diabetes in nondiabetic species and represent a marker for preventive action. By promoting the phosphorylation of serine/threonine residues on certain proteins of the insulin signaling pathway, PKCepsilon exerts a negative feedback on insulin action. PKCepsilon was also found to attenuate the activity of PKB and to promote the degradation of insulin receptor, as determined by co-incubation in HEK 293 cells. PKCepsilon overexpression was related to the rise in muscle diacylglycerol and lipid content, which are prevalent on lascivious nutrition especially if fat-rich. Thus, Psammomys illustrates the probable antecedents of the development of worldwide diabetes epidemic in human populations emerging from food scarcity to nutritional affluence, inappriopriate to their metabolic capacity.

Overnutrition in spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus): beta-cell expansion leading to rupture and overt diabetes on fat-rich diet and protective energy-wasting elevation in thyroid hormone on sucrose-rich diet.

PREVIOUS STUDIES: The investigation of diabetes propensity in spiny mice, performed in Geneva and Jerusalem colonies, is reviewed. Spiny mice live in semi-desert regions of the eastern Mediterranean countries. Those transferred to Geneva in the 1950s were maintained on a rodent diet supplemented by fat-rich seeds. They became obese, exhibited pancreatic islet hyperplasia and hypertrophy. Low insulin secretion response was characteristic of this species, despite ample pancreatic content of insulin. After a few months, diabetes with ketosis occurred, often suddenly, in association with islet cell disintegration. In Jerusalem the spiny mice were collected from their native habitat and placed on diets containing 50% sucrose or fat-rich seed diets. On a sucrose-rich diet, spiny mice developed hepatomegaly, lipogenic enzyme hyperactivity, and elevation in very low density lipoproteins as a result of metabolism of the fructose component mainly in the liver. No overt diabetes or pancreatic islet disintegration were observed, although insulin content and beta-cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia were apparent. On a fat-rich diet, spiny mice exhibited marked weight gain, adipose tissue growth and low hepatic lipogenesis. The obesity was accompanied by mild hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia with glucose intolerance leading to an occasional glucosuria after several months on the diet. NOVEL EXPERIMENTS: The sucrose diet induced an extrathyroidal elevation of triiodothyronine (T(3)). Serum T(3) level and hepatic T(4)-T(3) conversion were increased, while serum T(4) levels tended to decrease. The activity of the T(3)-inducible hepatic mitochondrial FAD-glycerophosphate oxidase and K(+)/Na(+)-ATPase, as well as body temperature were increased, indicating that the sucrose diet was associated with enhanced thermogenesis and energy-wasting metabolic cycling. The sucrose-rich diet might exert an adaptive thermogenesis-mediated defense mechanism, protecting against excessive weight gain and disruptive pancreatic islet lesion. After 18 months maintenance on sucrose-rich versus fat-rich diets the number of animals surviving was significantly higher on the sucrose diet whereas on the fat diet a significant number of animals succumbed to expansive islet cell disruption and diabetes.

Gluconeogenesis in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice: in vivo effects of vandadate treatment on hepatic glucose-6-phoshatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase.

The contribution of gluconeogenesis to hyperglycemia in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice has been investigated using oral vanadate administration. Vanadate compounds have been shown to mimic many actions of insulin; however, the exact mechanism is poorly understood. The aims of the present study were (1) to elucidate vanadate's action in vivo, and to assess the possibility that its glucose-reducing effect is dependent on the presence of a minimal concentration of insulin; and (2) to evaluate the effects of vanadate administration on the key hepatic gluconeogenesis enzymes, glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-Pase) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), as well as glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH). Vanadate caused a significant reduction in blood glucose but failed to normalize it, despite effective serum vanadate concentrations (26.2 +/- 1.6 micromol/L). Two weeks after initiation of treatment, blood glucose levels were 26.0 +/- 1.8, 21.7 +/- 3.0, 16.0 +/- 1.6, and 14.3 +/- 2.3 mmol/L in the control (C), insulin (I), vanadate (V), and combined vanadate and insulin (V + I) groups, respectively (P < .001). G-6-Pase activity was significantly reduced by vanadate (622 +/- 134 v365 +/- 83 nmol/min/mg protein in C vV, P < .05). PEPCK activity was also significantly reduced (844 +/- 370, 623 +/- 36, 337 +/- 43, and 317 +/- 75 nmol/min/mg in the C, I, V, and V + I groups, respectively, P < .001). No significant differences in the hepatic glycogen stores and G-6-PDH activity were noted between treatment groups. Our study suggests that the inhibition of hepatic G-6-Pase and PEPCK activity by vanadate plays an important role in reducing blood glucose levels in NOD mice.

Changing pattern of prevalence of insulin resistance in Psammomys obesus, a model of nutritionally induced type 2 diabetes.

Psammomys obesus (a desert gerbil, nicknamed the "sand rat") with innate insulin resistance was transferred to a high-energy (HE) diet at a young (8 to 20 weeks) and older (38 to 45 weeks) age. The young Psammomys progressed to in vivo insulin resistance, followed by pronounced hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, as described previously. Analysis of the time dependency of these changes in response to the HE diet showed that the increase in serum glucose preceded the increase in insulin and plateaued earlier, reverting to normal together with insulin in the older Psammomys. Implants releasing insulin 2 IU/24 h did not induce appreciable hypoglycemia, a decrease in free fatty acids (FFAs), or a suppression of hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activity in young animals after 5 hours, despite a markedly increased circulating insulin. However, in the older Psammomys, the exogenous hyperinsulinemia produced a significant decline in serum glucose and FFA and a suppression of hepatic PEPCK activity. A euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp confirmed that hepatic glucose production (HGP) was lower in older Psammomys versus the young and was almost completely abolished by insulin (from 5.6 +/- 0.6 to 0.2 +/- 0.1 mg x min(-1) x kg(-1) v 10.9 +/- 0.8 to 3.9 +/- 0.5 mg x min(-1) x kg(-1)). This indicates that HGP, rather than glucose underutilization, was the main contributor to the hyperglycemia and that the hepatic insulin resistance in Psammomys is attenuated with age. In relation to the human condition, these findings point out that while the type 2 diabetes prevalence in Western populations generally increases with age, the excessive nutritional intake in high-risk populations produces a pattern of diabetes prevalence that tapers off with age. As such, the nutritionally induced diabetes in Psammomys represents a similar model for a differing pattern of the age-related prevalence of diabetes.

Cytosolic citrate and malonyl-CoA regulation in rat muscle in vivo.

In liver, insulin and glucose acutely increase the concentration of malonyl-CoA by dephosphorylating and activating acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). In contrast, in incubated rat skeletal muscle, they appear to act by increasing the cytosolic concentration of citrate, an allosteric activator of ACC, as reflected by increases in the whole cell concentrations of citrate and malate [Saha, A. K., D. Vavvas, T. G. Kurowski, A. Apazidis, L. A. Witters, E. Shafrir, and N. B. Ruderman. Am. J. Physiol. 272 (Endocrinol. Metab. 35): E641-E648, 1997]. We report here that sustained increases in plasma insulin and glucose may also increase the concentration of malonyl-CoA in rat skeletal muscle in vivo by this mechanism. Thus 70 and 125% increases in malonyl-CoA induced in skeletal muscle by infusions of glucose for 1 and 4 days, respectively, and a twofold increase in its concentration during a 90-min euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp were all associated with significant increases in the sum of whole cell concentrations of citrate and/or malate. Similar correlations were observed in muscle of the hyperinsulinemic fa/fa rat, in denervated muscle, and in muscle of rats infused with insulin for 5 h. In muscle of 48-h-starved rats 3 and 24 h after refeeding, increases in malonyl-CoA were not accompanied by consistent increases in the concentrations of malate or citrate. However, they were associated with a decrease in the whole cell concentration of long-chain fatty acyl-CoA (LCFA-CoA), an allosteric inhibitor of ACC. The results suggest that increases in the concentration of malonyl-CoA, caused in rat muscle in vivo by sustained increases in plasma insulin and glucose or denervation, may be due to increases in the cytosolic concentration of citrate. In contrast, during refeeding after starvation, the increase in malonyl-CoA in muscle is probably due to another mechanism.

Irreversibility of nutritionally induced NIDDM in Psammomys obesus is related to beta-cell apoptosis.

Psammomys lapses into fully fledged diabetes when maintained on a high-energy diet. Progression to diabetes has been classified into stage A of normoglycemia and normoinsulinemia (<120 mg/ml and 100 mU/L, respectively); stage B of hyperinsulinemia (100-300 mU/L) with marked insulin resistance in the face of normoglycemia; stage C of pronounced hyperinsulinemia with hyperglycemia < or =500 mg/ml; stage D at 6-10 weeks after stage C, featuring further hyperglycemia and loss of insulin. Insulin resistance expressed in Psammomys at stages B and C was demonstrated by nonsuppression of the hepatic gluconeogenesis enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase by the endogenous hyperinsulinemia and by the reduced capacity of insulin to activate muscle and liver tyrosine kinase of the insulin receptor. Diabetes at stage C, but not at stage D, was fully reversed to stage A by restricting the food ration of animals by half (from 14 to 7 g/day) for 10-14 days. We examined islet beta cells of Psammomys in the four stages of progression to diabetes by staining for insulin as well as for apoptosis by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin-dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and visualizing the biotin-labeled cleavage sites. Psammomys in stage A had insulin-laden beta cells. In stage B, a hypertrophy and partial insulin depletion of beta cells was evident with negative TUNEL staining. In stage C, beta cells were markedly depleted of insulin, and their number within the islets decreased, but the TUNEL staining was virtually negative. In stage D, beta cells were markedly diminished within the islets, almost void of insulin, showing distinct TUNEL staining of beta cells. These results indicate that prolonged exposure of islets to in vivo hyperglycemia with beta-cell overtaxation induces nuclear disintegration with irreversible damage to the insulin-secretion apparatus. This precludes the return to normalcy by restricting the food intake of Psammomys. The appearance of cells with TUNEL-positive staining may serve as a marker of impending irreversibility of nutritionally induced diabetes.

Nutritionally induced insulin resistance and receptor defect leading to beta-cell failure in animal models.

Animals with genetically or nutritionally induced insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes comprise two groups: those with resilient beta-cells, e.g., ob/ob mice or fa/fa rats, capable of longstanding compensatory insulin hypersecretion and those with labile beta-cells in which the secretion pressure leads to beta-cell degranulation and apoptosis, e.g., db/db mice and Psammomys gerbils (sand rats). Psammomys features low insulin receptor density; on a relatively high energy diet it becomes hyperinsulinemic and hyperglycemic. In hyperinsulinemic clamp the hepatic glucose production is only partially suppressed by insulin, even in the normoglycemic state. The capacity of insulin to activate muscle and liver receptor tyrosine kinase is nearly abolished. GLUT4 content and mRNA are markedly reduced. Hyperinsulinemia was also demonstrated to inhibit insulin signaling and glucose transport in several other species. Among the factors affecting the insulin signaling pathway, phosphorylation of serine/threonine appears to be the prominent cause of receptor malfunction as inferred from the finding of overexpression of PKC epsilon isoforms in the muscle and liver of Psammomys. The insulin resistance syndrome progressing in animals with labile beta-cells to overt diabetes and beta-cell failure is a "thrifty gene" characteristic. This is probably also true for human populations emerging from food scarcity into nutritional affluence, inappropriate for their metabolic capacity. Thus, the nutritionally induced hyperinsulinemia, associated with PKC epsilon activation may be looked upon from the molecular point of view as "PKC epsilon overexpression syndrome."

Cellular mechanism of nutritionally induced insulin resistance: the desert rodent Psammomys obesus and other animals in which insulin resistance leads to detrimental outcome.

Animal species with genetic or nutritionally induced insulin resistance, diabetes and obesity (diabesity) may be divided into two broad groups: those with resilient pancreatic beta-cells, e.g. ob/ob mice and fa/fa rats, capable of long-lasting compensatory insulin over-secretion, and those with labile beta-cells in which the secretion pressure leads to irreversible beta-cell degranulation, e.g. db/db mice, Macaca mulatta primates, ZDF diabetic rats. Prominent in this group is the Israeli desert gerbil Psammomys obesus (sand rat), which features low insulin receptor density in liver and muscle. On a diet of relatively high energy, the capacity of insulin to activate the receptor tyrosine kinase (TK) is reduced, in the face of hyperinsulinemia. With the following hyperglycemia, the rising insulin resistance imposes a vicious cycle of insulinemia and glycemia, accentuating the TK activation failure and the beta-cell failure. Among various factors affecting the insulin signaling pathway, multisite phosphorylation, including serine and threonine on the receptor beta-subunit, due to overexpression of certain protein kinase C isoforms, seems to be responsible for the inhibition of the critical step of TK phosphorylation activity. The compromised TK activation is reversible by diet restriction which restores to normal the glycemia and insulinemia. The beta-cell response to long-lasting stimulation and the receptor malfunction in diabesity have implications for a similar etiology in human insulin resistance syndrome and type 2 diabetes, particularly in populations emerging from a food scarce environment into nutritional affluence, inappropriate to the human metabolic capacity. It is suggested that the "thrifty gene" is characterized by a low threshold for insulin secretion and low capacity for insulin clearance. Thus, nutritionally-induced hyperinsulinemia is potentiated and becomes the primary phenotypic expression of the thrifty gene, linked to the insulin receptor signaling pathway malfunction.

Islet amyloid polypeptide in Psammomys obesus (sand rat): effects of nutritionally induced diabetes and recovery on low-energy diet or vanadyl sulfate treatment.

We investigated the possible relationship between islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) and the hyperinsulinemia and/or hyperglycemia that is seen in the desert-adapted gerbil Psammomys obesus, when the animal is transferred from a low-energy (LE) diet to a high-energy (HE) diet. The effects of vanadyl sulfate and transition from a HE to a LE diet on the diabetic state of the Psammomys were also studied. Psammomys maintained on a LE diet, showing normoinsulinemia and normoglycemia (group A), were used as controls. IAPP and insulin immunoreactivity in the islets of Langerhans was studied using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique and plasma levels of the two hormones were determined by radioimmunoassays. The islet immunoreactivity of both IAPP and insulin was significantly weaker in the hyperinsulinemic and hyperglycemic Psammomys (group C) compared to group A. Transfer to a LE diet resulted in complete recovery of the IAPP- and insulin-staining pattern to that seen in group A [group A--Rec (nutrition)]. The plasma IAPP levels of the group C animals were not significantly higher than in group A, while after vanadyl sulfate treatment the IAPP levels and IAPP/insulin ratios remained significantly higher [group A--Rec (vanadyl)]. At the same time the circulating levels of glucose and insulin were restored to normal. Conclusively, islet IAPP and insulin immunoreactivity disappeared and reappeared in parallel in Psammomys transferred to a HE diet and back to a LE diet. Furthermore, vanadyl sulfate treatment of the hyperinsulinemic and hyperglycemic animals normalized circulating glucose and insulin levels, but not IAPP levels, possibly due to a negative feedback effect of IAPP on insulin release.

Malonyl-CoA regulation in skeletal muscle: its link to cell citrate and the glucose-fatty acid cycle.

Malonyl-CoA is an inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, the enzyme that controls the oxidation of fatty acids by regulating their transfer into the mitochondria. Despite this, knowledge of how malonyl-CoA levels are regulated in skeletal muscle, the major site of fatty acid oxidation, is limited. Two- to fivefold increases in malonyl-CoA occur in rat soleus muscles incubated with glucose or glucose plus insulin for 20 min [Saha, A. K., T. G. Kurowski, and N. B. Ruderman. Am. J. Physiol. 269 (Endocrinol. Metab. 32): E283-E289, 1995]. In addition, as reported here, acetoacetate in the presence of glucose increases malonyl-CoA levels in the incubated soleus. The increases in malonyl-CoA in all of these situations correlated closely with increases in the concentration of citrate (r2 = 0.64) and to an even greater extent the sum of citrate plus malate (r2 = 0.90), an antiporter for citrate efflux from the mitochondria. Where measured, no increase in the activity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) was found. Inhibition of ATP citrate lyase with hydroxycitrate markedly diminished the increases in malonyl-CoA in these muscles, indicating that citrate was the major substrate for the malonyl-CoA precursor, cytosolic acetyl-CoA. Studies with enzyme purified by immunoprecipitation indicated that the observed increases in citrate could have also allosterically activated ACC. The results suggest that in the presence of glucose, insulin and acetoacetate acutely increase malonyl-CoA levels in the incubated soleus by increasing the cytosolic concentration of citrate. This novel mechanism could complement the glucose-fatty acid cycle in determining how muscle chooses its fuels. It could also provide a means by which glucose acutely modulates signal transduction in muscle and other cells (e.g., the pancreatic beta-cell) in which its metabolism is determined by substrate availability.