A low frequency of pancreatic islet insulin-expressing cells derived from cord blood stem cell allografts in humans.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: We sought to establish if stem cells contained in cord blood cell allografts have the capacity to differentiate into insulin-expressing beta cells in humans. METHODS: We studied pancreases obtained at autopsy from individuals (n = 11) who had prior opposite-sex cord blood transplants to reconstitute haematopoiesis. Pancreatic tissue sections were stained first by XY-fluorescence in situ hybridisation and then insulin immunohistochemistry. Pancreases obtained at autopsy from participants without cord blood cell infusions served as controls (n = 11). RESULTS: In the men with prior transplant of female cord blood, there were 3.4 ± 0.3% XX-positive insulin-expressing islet cells compared with 0.32 ± 0.05% (p < 0.01) in male controls. In women with prior transplant of male cord blood cells we detected 1.03 ± 0.20% XY insulin-expressing islet cells compared with 0.03 ± 0.03 in female controls (p < 0. 001). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Cord blood stem cells have the capacity to differentiate into insulin-expressing cells in non-diabetic humans. It remains to be established whether these cells have the properties of beta cells.

Adaptive changes in pancreatic beta cell fractional area and beta cell turnover in human pregnancy.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: We sought to establish the extent and basis for adaptive changes in beta cell numbers in human pregnancy. METHODS: Pancreas was obtained at autopsy from women who had died while pregnant (n = 18), post-partum (n = 6) or were not pregnant at or shortly before death (controls; n = 20). Pancreases were evaluated for fractional pancreatic beta cell area, islet size and islet fraction of beta cells, beta cell replication (Ki67) and apoptosis (TUNEL), and indirect markers of beta cell neogenesis (insulin-positive cells in ducts and scattered beta cells in pancreas). RESULTS: The pancreatic fractional beta cell area was increased by approximately 1.4-fold in human pregnancy, with no change in mean beta cell size. In pregnancy there were more small islets rather than an increase in islet size or beta cells per islet. No increase in beta cell replication or change in beta cell apoptosis was detected, but duct cells positive for insulin and scattered beta cells were increased with pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The adaptive increase in beta cell numbers in human pregnancy is not as great as in most reports in rodents. This increase in humans is achieved by increased numbers of beta cells in apparently new small islets, rather than duplication of beta cells in existing islets, which is characteristic of pregnancy in rodents.

Pancreatic duct replication is increased with obesity and type 2 diabetes in humans.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: In a high-fat-fed rat model of type 2 diabetes we noted increased exocrine duct replication. This is a predisposing factor for pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, both of which are more common in type 2 diabetes. The aim of the study reported here was to establish if obesity and/or type 2 diabetes are associated with increased pancreatic ductal replication in humans. METHODS: We obtained pancreas at autopsy from 45 humans, divided into four groups: lean (BMI <25 kg/m(2)); obese (BMI >27 kg/m(2)); non-diabetic; and with type 2 diabetes. Pancreases were evaluated after immunostaining for the duct cell marker cytokeratin and Ki67 for replication. RESULTS: We show for the first time that both obesity and type 2 diabetes in humans are associated with increased pancreatic ductal replication. Specifically, we report that (1) replication of pancreatic duct cells is increased tenfold by obesity, and (2) lean subjects with type 2 diabetes demonstrate a fourfold increase in replication of pancreatic duct cells compared with their lean non-diabetic controls. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Pancreatic duct cell replication is increased in humans in response to both obesity and type 2 diabetes, potentially providing a mechanism for the increased risk of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer in those with obesity and/or type 2 diabetes.

Minimal model assessment of hepatic insulin extraction during an oral test from standard insulin kinetic parameters.

In this article, a first aim was to develop a minimal modeling approach to noninvasively assess hepatic insulin extraction in 204 healthy subjects studied with a standard meal by coupling the already available meal C-peptide minimal model with a new insulin model. The ingredients of this model are posthepatic IDR, which in turn is described in terms of pancreatic ISR and hepatic insulin extraction HE, and a linear monocompartmental model of insulin kinetics. Even if ISR is provided by the C-peptide minimal model, the simultaneous assessment of HE and insulin kinetics is critical, since compensations may arise between parameters describing these two processes. Therefore, as a second aim of this study, a method was developed to predict standard values of insulin kinetic parameters in an individual on the basis of the individual's anthropometric characteristics. The statistical analysis, based on linear regression of insulin kinetic parameters estimated from IM-IVGTT data performed on the same subjects, demonstrated that insulin kinetic parameters can be accurately predicted from age and body surface area. Once kinetic parameters of the new insulin model were fixed to these values, HE profile and indexes during a meal were reliably estimated in each individual, indicating a significant suppression during the meal since the overall index of HE, equal to 60 +/- 1% in the basal state, is reduced to 40 +/- 1% during a meal. However, standard parameters provide an approximation of the individual one; thus, the third aim was to define the impact on estimated indexes of using standard instead of individually estimated values. Our results showed that the 25% uncertainty affecting as an average insulin kinetic parameters of an individual, when they are predicted from age and body surface area, translates into a similar relative uncertainty in the individual's hepatic insulin extraction indexes.

Effects of pioglitazone and metformin on NEFA-induced insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: We sought to determine whether pioglitazone and metformin alter NEFA-induced insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes and, if so, the mechanism whereby this is effected. METHODS: Euglycaemic-hyperinsulinaemic clamps (glucose approximately 5.3 mmol/l, insulin approximately 200 pmol/l) were performed in the presence of Intralipid-heparin (IL/H) or glycerol before and after 4 months of treatment with pioglitazone (n = 11) or metformin (n = 9) in diabetic participants. Hormone secretion was inhibited with somatostatin in all participants. RESULTS: Pioglitazone increased insulin-stimulated glucose disappearance (p < 0.01) and increased insulin-induced suppression of glucose production (p < 0.01), gluconeogenesis (p < 0.05) and glycogenolysis (p < 0.05) during IL/H. However, glucose disappearance remained lower (p < 0.05) whereas glucose production (p < 0.01), gluconeogenesis (p < 0.05) and glycogenolysis (p < 0.05) were higher on the IL/H study day than on the glycerol study day, indicating persistence of NEFA-induced insulin resistance. Metformin increased (p < 0.001) glucose disappearance during IL/H to rates present during glycerol treatment, indicating protection against NEFA-induced insulin resistance in extrahepatic tissues. However, glucose production and gluconeogenesis (but not glycogenolysis) were higher (p < 0.01) during IL/H than during glycerol treatment with metformin, indicating persistence of NEFA-induced hepatic insulin resistance. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: We conclude that pioglitazone improves both the hepatic and the extrahepatic action of insulin but does not prevent NEFA-induced insulin resistance. In contrast, whereas metformin prevents NEFA-induced extrahepatic insulin resistance, it does not protect against NEFA-induced hepatic insulin resistance.

Modestly increased beta cell apoptosis but no increased beta cell replication in recent-onset type 1 diabetic patients who died of diabetic ketoacidosis.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Type 1 diabetes is characterised by a deficit in beta cell mass thought to be due to immune-mediated increased beta cell apoptosis. Beta cell turnover has not been examined in the context of new-onset type 1 diabetes with diabetic ketoacidosis. METHODS: Samples of pancreas were obtained at autopsy from nine patients, aged 12 to 38 years (mean 24.3+/-3.4 years), who had had type 1 diabetes for less than 3 years before death due to diabetic ketoacidosis. Samples of pancreas obtained at autopsy from nine non-diabetic cases aged 11.5 to 38 years (mean 24.2+/-3.4 years) were used as control. Fractional beta cell area (insulin staining), beta cell replication (insulin and Ki67 staining) and beta cell apoptosis (insulin and TUNEL staining) were measured. RESULTS: In pancreas obtained at autopsy from recent-onset type 1 diabetes patients who had died of diabetic ketoacidosis, the beta cell deficit varied from 70 to 99% (mean 90%). The pattern of beta cell loss was lobular, with almost all beta cells absent in most pancreatic lobules; islets in lobules not devoid of beta cells had reduced or a near-normal complement of beta cells. Beta cell apoptosis was increased in recent-onset type 1 diabetes, but to a surprisingly modest degree given the marked hyperglycaemia (30 mmol/l), acidosis and presumably high NEFA. Beta cell replication, scattered pancreatic beta cells and beta cells in exocrine ducts were not increased in recent-onset type 1 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: These findings do not support the notion of active beta cell regeneration by replication in new-onset type 1 diabetes under conditions of diabetic ketoacidosis. The gluco-lipotoxicity reported in isolated human islets may be less evident in vivo.

Pancreas volumes in humans from birth to age one hundred taking into account sex, obesity, and presence of type-2 diabetes.

Our aims were (1) by computed tomography (CT) to establish a population database for pancreas volume (parenchyma and fat) from birth to age 100 years, (2) in adults, to establish the impact of gender, obesity, and the presence or absence of type-2 diabetes on pancreatic volume (parenchyma and fat), and (3) to confirm the latter histologically from pancreatic tissue obtained at autopsy with a particular emphasis on whether pancreatic fat is increased in type-2 diabetes. We measured pancreas volume in 135 children and 1,886 adults (1,721 nondiabetic and 165 with type-2 diabetes) with no history of pancreas disease who had undergone abdominal CT scan between 2003 and 2006. Pancreas volume was computed from the contour of the pancreas on each CT image. In addition to total pancreas volume, parenchymal volume, fat volume, and fat/parenchyma ratio (F/P ratio) were determined by CT density. We also quantified pancreatic fat in autopsy tissue of 47 adults (24 nondiabetic and 23 with type-2 diabetes). During childhood and adolescence, the volumes of total pancreas, pancreatic parenchyma, and fat increase linearly with age. From age 20-60 years, pancreas volume reaches a plateau (72.4 +/- 25.8 cm(3) total; 44.5 +/- 16.5 cm(3) parenchyma) and then declines thereafter. In adults, total ( approximately 32%), parenchymal ( approximately 13%), and fat ( approximately 68%) volumes increase with obesity. Pancreatic fat content also increases with aging but is not further increased in type-2 diabetes. We provide lifelong population data for total pancreatic, parenchymal, and fat volumes in humans. Although pancreatic fat increases with aging and obesity, it is not increased in type-2 diabetes.

Increased islet beta cell replication adjacent to intrapancreatic gastrinomas in humans.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are characterised by a beta cell deficit. Islet hyperplasia has been described in patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome secondary to gastrin-producing tumours (gastrinomas), and gastrin therapy has increased beta cell mass in rodents and human islets in vitro. In the present studies we addressed the following questions: (1) In pancreas specimens from gastrinoma cases, is the fractional beta cell area increased? (2) If so, is this restricted to tumour-adjacent islets or also present in tumour-distant islets? (3) Is new beta cell formation (beta cell replication and islet neogenesis) increased and beta cell apoptosis decreased in pancreas specimens from gastrinoma cases? METHODS: Pancreas was obtained at surgery from four patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome caused by pancreatic gastrinomas and 15 control subjects at autopsy. RESULTS: Islet fractional beta cell area (p<0.001), islet size (p<0.001) and beta cell replication (Ki67 staining) (p<0.05) were increased in islets adjacent to the tumours, but not in tumour-distant pancreas, compared with control subjects. We did not observe any differences in beta cell apoptosis or in the number of insulin-positive cells in ducts either adjacent to or distant from the tumour. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: One or more factors released by human gastrinomas increase beta cell replication in islets immediately adjacent to the tumour, but not in tumour-distant islets. While these findings demonstrate that adult human beta cells can be driven into the cell cycle, they caution against the therapeutic usefulness of gastrin, since islets located >1 cm away from the gastrinomas did not exhibit changes in beta cell turnover, despite markedly elevated systemic gastrin levels sufficient to cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms.

Renal amino acid, fat and glucose metabolism in type 1 diabetic and non-diabetic humans: effects of acute insulin withdrawal.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that type 1 diabetes alters renal amino acid, glucose and fatty acid metabolism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied five C-peptide-negative, type 1 diabetic subjects during insulin replacement (glucose 5.6 mmol/l) and insulin deprivation (glucose 15.5 mmol/l) and compared them with six non-diabetic subjects. Leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, glucose and palmitate tracers were infused after an overnight fast and samples were obtained from the renal vein, femoral vein and femoral artery. RESULTS: Insulin deprivation significantly increased whole-body fluxes (20-25%) of phenylalanine, tyrosine and leucine, and leucine oxidation (50%). Kidney contributed 5-10% to the whole-body leucine and phenylalanine flux. A net uptake of phenylalanine, conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine (5 micromol/min) and net release of tyrosine (approximately 5 micromol/min) occurred across the kidney. Whole-body (three-fold) and leg (two-fold) leucine transamination increased but amino acid metabolism in the kidney did not alter with diabetes or insulin deprivation. Insulin deprivation doubled endogenous glucose production, renal glucose production was unaltered by insulin deprivation and diabetes (ranging between 100 and 140 micromol/min). Renal palmitate exchange was unaltered by insulin deprivation. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: In conclusion, kidney post-absorptively accounts for 5-10% of whole-body protein turnover, 15-20% of leucine transamination and 10-15% of endogenous glucose production, and actively converts phenylalanine to tyrosine. During insulin deprivation, leg becomes a major site for leucine transamination but insulin deprivation does not affect renal phenylalanine, leucine, palmitate or glucose metabolism. Despite its key metabolic role, insulin deprivation in type 1 diabetic patients does not alter many of these metabolic functions.

Sustained beta cell apoptosis in patients with long-standing type 1 diabetes: indirect evidence for islet regeneration?

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Type 1 diabetes is widely held to result from an irreversible loss of insulin-secreting beta cells. However, insulin secretion is detectable in some people with long-standing type 1 diabetes, indicating either a small population of surviving beta cells or continued renewal of beta cells subject to ongoing autoimmune destruction. The aim of the present study was to evaluate these possibilities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pancreatic sections from 42 individuals with type 1 diabetes and 14 non-diabetic individuals were evaluated for the presence of beta cells, beta cell apoptosis and replication, T lymphocytes and macrophages. The presence and extent of periductal fibrosis was also quantified. RESULTS: Beta cells were identified in 88% of individuals with type 1 diabetes. The number of beta cells was unrelated to duration of disease (range 4-67 years) or age at death (range 14-77 years), but was higher (p<0.05) in individuals with lower mean blood glucose. Beta cell apoptosis was twice as frequent in type 1 diabetes as in control subjects (p<0.001), but beta cell replication was rare in both groups. The increased beta cell apoptosis in type 1 diabetes was accompanied by both increased macrophages and T lymphocytes and a marked increase in periductal fibrosis (p<0.001), implying chronic inflammation over many years, consistent with an ongoing supply of beta cells. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Most people with long-standing type 1 diabetes have beta cells that continue to be destroyed. The mechanisms underlying increased beta cell death may involve both ongoing autoimmunity and glucose toxicity. The presence of beta cells despite ongoing apoptosis implies, by definition, that concomitant new beta cell formation must be occurring, even after long-standing type 1 diabetes. We conclude that type 1 diabetes may be reversed by targeted inhibition of beta cell destruction.

Extrapancreatic effects of GIP and GLP-1.

Incretin-based therapy promises to be a useful adjunct in the treatment of diabetes. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP1) and, to a lesser extent, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) are potent stimulators of insulin secretion, and consequently have significant effects on the regulation of the glucose metabolism. What has been less clear, however, is whether these hormones exert direct effects on glucose metabolism independent of their effect on pancreatic insulin and glucagon release. Glucose effectiveness and insulin action (the ability of glucose and insulin respectively to stimulate glucose uptake and suppress glucose release) have been reported by some investigators, but not others, to improve during incretin infusion. The purpose of this review is briefly to examine some of the numerous conflicting reports in the literature as to the presence or otherwise of extrapancreatic incretin effects. In addition, we will briefly discuss the gastrointestinal effects of incretins. These effects may be of considerable importance in the treatment of postprandial hyperglycemia although they are not, strictly speaking, the result of a direct incretin effect on glucose metabolism.

Glucose-induced suppression of endogenous glucose production: dynamic response to differing glucose profiles.

To determine whether, in the presence of constant insulin concentrations, a change in glucose concentrations results in a reciprocal change in endogenous glucose production (EGP), glucagon ( approximately 130 ng/l) and insulin ( approximately 65 pmol/l) were maintained at constant "basal" concentrations while glucose was clamped at approximately 5.3 mM (euglycemia), approximately 7.0 mM (sustained hyperglycemia; n = 10), or varied to create a "postprandial" profile (profile; n = 11). EGP fell slowly over the 6 h of the euglycemia study. In contrast, an increase in glucose to 7.13 +/- 0.3 mmol/l resulted in prompt and sustained suppression of EGP to 9.65 +/- 1.21 micromol x kg-1 x min-1. On the profile study day, glucose increased to a peak of 11.2 +/- 0.5 mmol/l, and EGP decreased to a nadir of 6.79 +/- 2.54 micromol x kg-1 x min-1 by 60 min. Thereafter, the fall in glucose was accompanied by a reciprocal rise in EGP to rates that did not differ from those observed on the euglycemic study day (11.31 +/- 2.45 vs. 12.11 +/- 3.21 micromol x kg-1 x min-1). Although the pattern of change of glucose differed markedly on the sustained hyperglycemia and profile study days, by design the area above basal did not. This resulted in equivalent suppression of EGP below basal (-1,952 +/- 204 vs. -1,922 +/- 246 mmol. kg-1. 6 h-1). These data demonstrate that, in the presence of a constant basal insulin concentration, changes in glucose within the physiological range rapidly and reciprocally regulate EGP.

Lack of effect of exendin-4 and glucagon-like peptide-1-(7,36)-amide on insulin action in non-diabetic humans.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to determine whether rapid conversion to inactive and potentially antagonistic peptides could alter the response to GLP-1. METHODS: We evaluated the ability of exendin-4, a GLP-1 analogue resistant to degradation by dipeptidyl peptidase IV, to modulate insulin-induced stimulation of glucose uptake and suppression of glucose production in eight healthy subjects during infusion of GLP-1 (1.2 pmol.kg(-1).min(-1)), exendin-4 (0.12 pmol.kg(-1).min(-1)), or saline. Glucose was clamped at 5.3 mmol/l and insulin was infused to progressively increase insulin concentrations to about 65, 190 and 700 pmol/l, respectively. Endogenous insulin secretion was inhibited with somatostatin to ensure comparable portal insulin concentrations while glucagon and growth hormone were maintained at basal concentrations. RESULTS: Glucose, insulin, C-peptide, glucagon and growth hormone concentrations did not differ on the three occasions. In contrast, cortisol concentrations were greater during both exendin-4 (25.1+/-4.4 mmol/l per 7 h; p<0.01) and GLP-1, (17.0+/-2.0 mmol/l 7 h; p<0.05) than saline (13.5+/-1.5 mmol/l per 7 h). While insulin-induced stimulation of glucose disappearance at the highest insulin concentrations tended to be greater and insulin-induced suppression of glucose production lower in the presence of exendin-4 or GLP-1 than saline, the differences were not significant. CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: Exendin-4 and GLP-1 increase cortisol secretion in human subjects. However, neither alters insulin action in non-diabetic human subjects. These data also suggest that the lack of an effect of GLP-1 on insulin action is not likely to be explained by rapid degradation to inactive or antagonistic peptides.

Cutaneous vascular function during acute hyperglycemia in healthy young adults.

Although it is well established that severe chronic hyperglycemia is associated with microvascular disease, it is not known whether transient hyperglycemia similar to that observed with impaired glucose tolerance or early Type 2 diabetes contributes to this pathology by altering microvascular function. To test the hypothesis that acute hyperglycemia decreases microvascular vasodilator responsiveness in human skin, we measured the cutaneous vasodilator response to local warming. This response can be divided into two phases, an initial peak that relies predominantly on local sensory nerves and a second slower phase that is largely dependent on endothelial nitric oxide. We reasoned that a change in one or both phases would indicate a change in the corresponding mechanism(s) with hyperglycemia. Twenty-eight healthy volunteers (14 women, 14 men) were randomly divided into three groups, corresponding to 6 h of euglycemia (n = 8), 6 h when glucose was clamped at approximately 7 mmol/l (n = 10), or 6 h when glucose was varied to mimic a postprandial pattern (i.e., peak glucose approximately 11.1 mmol/l) commonly observed in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (n = 10). Insulin concentrations in all instances were maintained at approximately 65 pmol/l by means of continuous infusions of somatostatin and insulin. Glucagon and growth hormone were also continuously infused to maintain their basal concentrations. Despite substantial differences in both the level and pattern of glucose concentrations, neither maximum cutaneous vasodilation nor the pattern of the vasodilator response to local warming differed over the 6 h of study. We conclude that acute hyperglycemia similar to levels commonly observed in people with either early Type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance does not alter the vasodilator response to local warming of the skin in humans.

Insulin effect on leucine kinetics in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Insulin-induced glucose disposal is impaired in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). To determine whether insulin-induced suppression of protein breakdown also is impaired, we measured leucine flux (an index of protein breakdown) in diabetic and nondiabetic subjects during a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp. To avoid the confounding effects of a difference in baseline glucose, glucose concentration in the diabetic subjects was normalized by means of an overnight insulin infusion. Despite higher plasma insulin levels (33.5+/-0.05 vs 132+/-2.7 pmol/l, p<01) diabetic subjects had similar amino acid concentrations and leucine flux (96.9+/-5.8 vs 93.4+/-3.7 micromol/kg/h) as nondiabetic subjects. Infusion of insulin (0.5 mU/kg/min) increased insulin levels (p<0.01) to identical levels in both groups (218+/-16 vs 222+/-19), but the glucose infusion required to maintain euglycemia was higher (p<0.01) in nondiabetic than in diabetic subjects, indicating insulin resistance to glucose disposal in the diabetic subjects. In contrast, leucine flux (81.3+/-4.8 vs 81.6+/-3.4 micromol/kg/h) reached identical levels in both groups. The individual and total amino acid levels also were comparable in both groups. We conclude that suppression of whole body protein turnover in response to an acute increase in insulin is normal in people with T2DM. However, chronic adaptation to high insulin levels occurs, thereby enabling protein breakdown and amino acid concentration to remain within the normal range in people with T2DM.