NF-B-mediated metabolic remodelling in the inflamed heart in acute viral myocarditis

Acute viral myocarditis (VM), characterised by leukocyte infiltration and dysfunction of the heart, is an important cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults. Unfortunately, to date, the pathological mechanisms underlying cardiac failure in VM remain incompletely understood. In the current study, we investigated if acute VM leads to cardiac...

Proteomics of human liver membrane transporters: a focus on fetuses and newborn infants

Background Hepatic membrane transporters are involved in the transport of many endogenous and exogenous compounds, including drugs. We aimed to study the relation of age with absolute transporter protein expression in a cohort of 62 mainly fetus and newborn samples. Methods Protein expressions of BCRP, BSEP, GLUT1, MCT1, MDR1, MRP1, MRP2, MRP3,...

Stimulatory effect of insulin on glucose uptake by muscle involves the central nervous system in insulin-sensitive mice

OBJECTIVE - Insulin inhibits endogenous glucose production (EGP) and stimulates glucose uptake in peripheral tissues. Hypothalamic insulin signaling is required for the inhibitory effects of insulin on EGP. We examined the contribution of central insulin signaling on circulating insulin-stimulated tissue-specific glucose uptake. RESEARCH DESIGN...

CNTO736, a novel glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, ameliorates insulin resistance and inhibits very low-density lipoprotein production in high-fat-fed mice

CNTO736 is a glucagon-like peptide (GLP) 1 receptor agonist that incorporates a GLP-1 peptide analog linked to the Mimeti-body platform. We evaluate the potential of acute and chronic CNTO736 treatment on insulin sensitivity and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) metabolism. For acute studies, diet-induced insulin-resistant C57BL76 mice...

Molecular cloning, functional characterization and expression analysis of a novel monosaccharide transporter gene OsMST6 from rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Monosaccharides transporters play important roles in assimilate supply for sink tissue development. In this study, a new monosaccharide transporter gene OsMST6 was identified from rice (Oryza sativa L.). The predicted OsMST6 protein shows typical features of sugar transporters and shares 79.6% identity with the rice monosaccharide transporter...

Molecular cloning and expression analysis of a monosaccharide transporter gene OsMST4 from rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Monosaccharide transporters mediate the membrane transport of a variable range of monosaccharides, which plays a crucial role in sugar distribution throughout the plant. To investigate the significance of monosaccharide transporters for rice (Oryza sativa L.) seed development, cDNA of a new putative monosaccharide transporter gene OsMST4 was...

Hepatic glucose production is more sensitive to insulin-mediated inhibition than hepatic VLDL-triglyceride production

Insulin is an important inhibitor of both hepatic glucose output and hepatic VLDL-triglyceride (VLDL-TG) production. We investigated whether both processes are equally sensitive to insulin-mediated inhibition. To test this, we used euglycemic clamp studies with four increasing plasma concentrations of insulin in wild-type C57Bl/6 mice. By...

Intracerebroventricular administration of melanotan II increases insulin sensitivity of glucose disposal in mice

Aims/hypothesis: The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of central administration of melanotan II (MTII), a melanocortin-3/4 receptor agonist, on hepatic and whole-body insulin sensitivity, independent of food intake and body weight. Methods: Over a period of 24 h, 225 ng of MTII was injected in three aliquots into the left...

Differential effects of pharmacological liver X receptor activation on hepatic and peripheral insulin sensitivity in lean and ob/ob mice

Liver X receptor (LXR) agonists have been proposed to act as anti-diabetic drugs. However, pharmacological LXR activation leads to severe hepatic steatosis, a condition usually associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. To address this apparent contradiction, lean and ob/ob mice were treated with the LXR agonist GW-3965 for...

Sixteen hours of fasting differentially affects hepatic and muscle insulin sensitivity in mice

Fasting readily induces hepatic steatosis. Hepatic steatosis is associated with hepatic insulin resistance. The purpose of the present study was to document the effects of 16 h of fasting in wild-type mice on insulin sensitivity in liver and skeletal muscle in relation to 1) tissue accumulation of triglycerides (TGs) and 2) changes in mRNA...

Overexpression of APOC1 in obob mice leads to hepatic steatosis and severe hepatic insulin resistance

Obese obob mice with strong overexpression of the human apolipoprotein C1 (APOC1) exhibit excessive free fatty acid (FFA) and triglyceride (TG) levels and severely reduced body weight (due to the absence of subcutaneous adipose tissue) and skin abnormalities. To evaluate the effects of APOC1 overexpression on hepatic and peripheral insulin...

Increased hepatic insulin sensitivity together with decreased hepatic triglyceride stores in hormone-sensitive lipase-deficient mice

Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) is a major enzyme for triglyceride (TG) lipolysis in adipose tissue. In HSL-knockout mice, plasma free fatty acid and TG levels are low, associated with low liver TG content. Because a decreased hepatic insulin sensitivity has been reported to be associated with high liver TG levels, our aim was to determine...

CD36 deficiency increases insulin sensitivity in muscle, but induces insulin resistance in the liver in mice

CD36 (fatty acid translocase) is involved in high-affinity peripheral fatty acid uptake. Mice lacking CD36 exhibit increased plasma free fatty acid and triglyceride (TG) levels and decreased glucose levels. Studies in spontaneous hypertensive rats lacking functional CD36 link CD36 to the insulin-resistance syndrome. To clarify the relationship...

The isolated blood-perfused pig ear: An inexpensive and animal-saving model for skin penetration studies

To overcome most of the disadvantages of current models to investigate percutaneous penetration of drugs or toxic substances, a model is proposed here based on the isolated pig ear, which is obtained at the slaughterhouse, and perfused with oxygenated blood from the same pig. To determine the viability of the preparations, we measured glucose...