Long term effects of high fat or high carbohydrate diets on glucose tolerance in mice with heterozygous carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1a (CPT-1a) deficiency: Diet influences on CPT1a deficient mice.

BACKGROUND: Abnormal fatty acid metabolism is an important feature in the mechanisms of insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1a (CPT-1a, liver isoform) plays a pivotal role in the regulation of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. We investigated the role of CPT-1a in the development of impaired glucose tolerance using a mouse model for CPT-1a deficiency when challenged by either a high-carbohydrate (HCD) or a high-fat diet (HFD) for a total duration of up to 46 weeks. METHODS: Insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance were assessed in heterozygous CPT-1a deficient (CPT-1a+/-) male mice after being fed either a HCD or a HFD for durations of 28 weeks and 46 weeks. Both glucose and insulin tolerance tests were used to investigate beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity. Differences in islet insulin content and hepatic steatosis were evaluated by morphological analysis. RESULTS: CPT-1a+/- mice were more insulin sensitive than CPT-1a+/+ mice when fed either HCD or HFD. The increased insulin sensitivity was associated with an increased expression of Cpt-1b (muscle isoform) in liver, as well as increased microvesicular hepatic steatosis compared to CPT-1a+/+ mice. CPT-1a+/- mice were more glucose tolerant than CPT-1a+/+ mice when fed the HCD, but there was no significant difference when fed HFD. Moreover, CPT-1a+/- mice fed HFD or HCD had fewer and smaller pancreatic islets than CPT-1a+/+ mice. CONCLUSIONS: CPT-1a deficiency preserved insulin sensitivity when challenged by long term feeding of either diet. Furthermore, CPT-1a deficient mice had distinct phenotypes dependent on the diet fed demonstrating that both diet and genetics collectively play a role in the development of impaired glucose tolerance.

Homozygous carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1b (muscle isoform) deficiency is lethal in the mouse.

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT-1) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of mitochondrial beta-oxidation of long chain fatty acids (LCFA), the most abundant fatty acids in mammalian membranes and in energy metabolism. Human deficiency of the muscle isoform CPT-1b is poorly understood. In the current study, embryos with a homozygous knockout of Cpt-1b were lost before embryonic day 9.5-11.5. Also, while there were normal percentages of CPT-1b+/- pups born from both male and female CPT-1b+/- mice crossed with wild-type mates, the number of CPT-1b+/- pups from CPT-1b+/- breeding pairs was under-represented (63% of the expected number). Northern blot analysis demonstrated approximately 50% Cpt-1b mRNA expression in brown adipose tissue (BAT), heart and skeletal muscles in the CPT-1b+/- male mice. Consistent with tissue-specific expression of Cpt-1b mRNA in muscle but not liver, CPT-1+/- mice had approximately 60% CPT-1 activity in skeletal muscle and no change in total liver CPT-1 activity. CPT-1b+/- mice had normal fasting blood glucose concentration. Consistent with expression of CPT-1b in BAT and muscle, approximately 7% CPT-1b+/- mice (n=30) developed fatal hypothermia following a 3h cold challenge, while none of the CPT-1b+/+ mice (n=30) did. With a prolonged cold challenge (6h), significantly more CPT-1b+/- mice developed fatal hypothermia (52% CPT-1b+/- mice vs. 21% CPT-1b+/+ mice), with increased frequency in females of both genotypes (67% female vs. 38% male CPT-1b+/- mice, and 33% female vs. 8% male CPT-1b+/+ mice). Therefore, lethality of homozygous CPT-1b deficiency in the mice is consistent with paucity of human cases.

Homozygous carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1a (liver isoform) deficiency is lethal in the mouse.

To better understand carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1a (liver isoform, gene=Cpt-1a, protein=CPT-1a) deficiency in human disease, we developed a gene knockout mouse model. We used a replacement gene targeting strategy in ES cells that resulted in the deletion of exons 11-18, thus producing a null allele. Homozygous deficient mice (CPT-1a -/-) were not viable. There were no CPT-1a -/- pups, embryos or fetuses detected from day 10 of gestation to term. FISH analysis demonstrated targeting vector recombination at the expected single locus on chromosome 19. The inheritance pattern from heterozygous matings was skewed in both C57BL/6NTac, 129S6/SvEvTac (B6;129 mixed) and 129S6/SvEvTac (129 coisogenic) genetic backgrounds biased toward CPT-1a +/- mice (>80%). There was no sex preference with regard to germ-line transmission of the mutant allele. CPT-1a +/- mice had decreased Cpt-1a mRNA expression in liver, heart, brain, testis, kidney, and white fat. This resulted in 54.7% CPT-1 activity in liver from CPT-1a +/- males but no significant difference in females as compared to CPT-1a +/+ controls. CPT-1a +/- mice showed no fatty change in liver and were cold tolerant. Fasting free fatty acid concentrations were significantly elevated, while blood glucose concentrations were significantly lower in 6-week-old CPT-1a +/- mice compared to controls. Although the homozygous mutants were not viable, we did find some aspects of haploinsufficiency in the CPT-1a +/- mutants, which will make them an important mouse model for studying the role of CPT-1a in human disease.

Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency in gene-targeted mice.

Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency is the most common inherited disorder of mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation in humans. To better understand the pathogenesis of this disease, we developed a mouse model for MCAD deficiency (MCAD-/-) by gene targeting in embryonic stem (ES) cells. The MCAD-/- mice developed an organic aciduria and fatty liver, and showed profound cold intolerance at 4 degrees C with prior fasting. The sporadic cardiac lesions seen in MCAD-/- mice have not been reported in human MCAD patients. There was significant neonatal mortality of MCAD-/- pups demonstrating similarities to patterns of clinical episodes and mortality in MCAD-deficient patients. The MCAD-deficient mouse reproduced important aspects of human MCAD deficiency and is a valuable model for further analysis of the roles of fatty acid oxidation and pathogenesis of human diseases involving fatty acid oxidation.