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Biomedical subjects

J F Caro

Publications and source records attributed to J F Caro.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

A new technique for biopsy of human abdominal fat under local anaesthesia with Lidocaine.

The objectives of this study were to develop a new technique to safety, reliably, and in a cosmetically acceptable way, obtain more than 5.0 g of abdominal subcutaneous fat in out-patients, and to investigate whether inhibitory effects of a local anaesthetic on adipose tissue function in vitro are sufficient argument against the use of infiltrative local anaesthesia during fat biopsy to obtain samples for metabolic studies. Measurements were obtained to compare glucose transport and lipolysis response to insulin in adipocytes isolated from subcutaneous abdominal fat obtained: (i) during elective surgery in eight women and four men (BMI 25.8 +/- 3.1 kg/m2); and (ii) from five male and three female out-patients (BMI 25.8 +/- 3.1 kg/m2) by the described novel technique performed under local anaesthesia with Lidocaine. The effects of acute and 11-day exposure to Lidocaine in vitro on adipocyte lipolysis and glucose transport response to insulin, and the growth potential were determined. In vivo exposure of the tissue samples to local anaesthetic by the novel technique had no apparent effect on isolated adipocyte responses to insulin by stimulation of glucose transport or by inhibitor- or adrenaline-stimulated lipolysis; the results were not different to those for adipocytes isolated from fat obtained during elective abdominal surgeries. Lidocaine added in vitro potently inhibited glucose transport and lipolysis in adipocytes, and cell attachment and growth in primary 'ceiling' culture; this effect persisted only as long as Lidocaine was present. After washing, adipocytes fully regained their function and growth regardless of the exposure period, as short as 30 min or as long as 11 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abdomen↗

Protein kinase C: mediator or inhibitor of insulin action?

The role of protein kinase C in insulin signal transduction is controversial. It has been postulated that protein kinase C is activated by insulin and that the kinase is directly involved in insulin-mediated metabolic processes. In opposition to this view is the hypothesis that protein kinase C is not activated by insulin and, more importantly, may be responsible for attenuation of the insulin signal. The evidence for and against protein kinase C as a mediator of the insulin signal will be put in perspective followed by discussion of the possible role of the kinase in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in type II diabetes.

Animals↗

Insulin stimulates GDP release from G proteins in the rat and human liver plasma membranes.

Plasma membranes (1-2 mg protein) prepared from the livers of adult male rats and human organ donors were incubated with 0.6 microM [alpha-32P] guanosine triphosphate (GTP) in an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-regenerating buffer at 37 degrees C for 1 h; during this incubation, the [32P]GTP is hydrolyzed and the nucleotide that is predominantly bound to the membranes is [32P] guanosine diphosphate (GDP). [32P]GDP release from the liver membranes was proportional to the protein concentration and increased as a function of time. At 5 mM, Ca2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, and Zn2+ maximally inhibited GDP release by 80-90%, whereas, 5 mM Cu2+ maximally stimulated the reaction by 100%. Therefore, cations were not included in the buffer used in the GDP release step. One microM Gpp(NH)p (5'-guanylylimidodiphosphate), a nonhydrolyzable analog of GTP, maximally stimulated [32P]GDP release in the liver membranes by up to 30%. Although 10 nM Gpp(NH)p had no effect on GDP release, it appeared to stabilize the hormonal effect by blocking further GDP/GTP exchange. In the rat membranes, 1-100 nM glucagon (used as a positive control) stimulated [32P]GDP release by about 17% (P < .05); similarly, 0.1-100 nM insulin stimulated [32P]GDP release by 10-13% (P < .05). In the human membranes, 10 pM to 100 nM insulin stimulated [32P]GDP release by 7-10%. In the rat membranes, 10 nM insulin stimulated [32P]GDP release by 17 and 24% at 2 and 4 min, respectively (P < .05); in the human membranes, 10 nM insulin stimulated [32P]GDP release by about 9% at 2 and 4 min.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Coronary heart disease risk factors in morbidly obese women with normal glucose tolerance.

OBJECTIVE--To examine if the risk for CHD increases progressively with increases in the BMI of normoglycemic, hyperinsulinemic, morbidly obese women (BMI > or = 35 kg/m2). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--Insulin sensitivity was evaluated by calculating an ISI following an OGTT. There was a significant linear relationship between ISI and BMI fitted by two straight lines intersecting at a point corresponding to a BMI of 29.7 +/- 1.5 kg/m2. Significant linear relationships between insulin sensitivity and BMI were obtained below and above this breakpoint. Similarly, a breakpoint for the relation between dBP and BMI corresponding to a BMI > or = 33.7 +/- 3.4 kg/m2 was obtained. Significant linear relationships between BMI and plasma fasting glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, sBP, or dBP were not observed in the women with a BMI > 35 kg/m2. RESULTS--Compared with lean (BMI < 27) women of similar age, the morbidly obese patients appear to be at a higher risk for CHD. This is suggested by statistically significant increases in fasting insulin (mean +/- SD; 187 +/- 137 vs. 64.2 +/- 16.2 pM) and triglyceride levels (128 +/- 78.1 vs. 73 +/- 25 mg/dl), sBP (132 +/- 114 vs. 104 +/- 15.8) and dBP (84 +/- 72 vs. 67 +/- 2.1 mmHg), and decreases in HDL cholesterol (1.03 +/- 0.44 vs. 1.29 +/- 0.82 mM) and apo A-I (91 +/- 55 vs. 122 +/- 35 mg/dl) concentrations. CONCLUSIONS--It appears that there may be a threshold of body mass up to which insulin sensitivity is associated with CHD risk. Above this threshold, there does not appear to be a progressive increase in the risk factors for CHD with increases in BMI.

Adult↗

Effects of phorbol esters on insulin receptor function and insulin action in hepatocytes: evidence for heterogeneity.

We investigated the effect of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), a protein kinase C (PKC) activator on insulin receptors and insulin action in freshly isolated and primary cultures of rat hepatocytes. PMA (1 x 10(-7) M) did not alter insulin receptor numbers or affinity either acutely or chronically but within 60 minute inactivated insulin stimulated tyrosine kinase of the insulin receptor. PKC activation inhibited insulin (1 x 10(-7) M) stimulation of glycogen and lipid synthesis with a decrease or no change in basal glycogenesis and lipogenesis respectively. However, PKC activation did not alter insulin stimulated or basal amino acid transport even though PKC activation inhibited insulin stimulation of the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase. Thus, within one tissue, PKC activation has differential effect on insulin action depending on which pathway is examined. Furthermore, insulin stimulation of the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase may not be a necessary step for all insulin signaling pathways.

Animals↗

In chronic uremia, insulin activates receptor kinase but not pyruvate dehydrogenase.

We studied in vivo biochemical effects of insulin in the skeletal muscle of chronically uremic and control rats. The rate of disappearance of blood glucose (determined with a short intravenous test) was reduced by 38% in uremia (p less than 0.05). Intraperitoneal treatment with insulin plus glucose for 30 min caused a 3-fold increase in the activity of insulin receptor tyrosine kinase in the skeletal muscle of both rat groups. Conversely, pyruvate dehydrogenase activity increased by 115% in controls but only by 26% in uremics (p less than 0.01). Exercise (swimming for 30 min) increased muscle pyruvate dehydrogenase activity approximately 2-fold in both groups of animals. These experiments show that in uremic rats, insulin binds normally to its muscle receptors and adequately activates receptor tyrosine kinase but fails to activate an otherwise responsive pyruvate dehydrogenase.

Animals↗

Restoration of insulin responsiveness in skeletal muscle of morbidly obese patients after weight loss. Effect on muscle glucose transport and glucose transporter GLUT4.

A major defect contributing to impaired insulin action in human obesity is reduced glucose transport activity in skeletal muscle. This study was designed to determine whether the improvement in whole body glucose disposal associated with weight reduction is related to a change in skeletal muscle glucose transport activity and levels of the glucose transporter protein GLUT4. Seven morbidly obese (body mass index = 45.8 +/- 2.5, mean +/- SE) patients, including four with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), underwent gastric bypass surgery for treatment of their obesity. In vivo glucose disposal during a euglycemic clamp at an insulin infusion rate of 40 mU/m2 per min was reduced to 27% of nonobese controls (P less than 0.01) and improved to 78% of normal after weight loss of 43.1 +/- 3.1 kg (P less than 0.01). Maximal insulin-stimulated glucose transport activity in incubated muscle fibers was reduced by approximately 50% in obese patients at the time of gastric bypass surgery but increased twofold (P less than 0.01) to 88% of normal in five separate patients after similar weight reduction. Muscle biopsies obtained from vastus lateralis before and after weight loss revealed no significant change in levels of GLUT4 glucose transporter protein. These data demonstrate conclusively that insulin resistance in skeletal muscle of mobidly obese patients with and without NIDDM cannot be causally related to the cellular content of GLUT4 protein. The results further suggest that morbid obesity contributes to whole body insulin resistance through a reversible defect in skeletal muscle glucose transport activity. The mechanism for this improvement may involve enhanced transporter translocation and/or activation.

Adult↗

Lipogenic potential of liver from morbidly obese patients with and without non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

Intra-abdominal liver biopsies were obtained during surgery from fasted obese patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), obese normoglycemic controls, and lean controls. Lipid synthesis was studied in freshly isolated hepatocytes and liver homogenates from the three groups of subjects. Incorporation of 3H2O into the lipids of hepatocytes was determined in the absence and presence of insulin (0.1 mumol/L). The activities of five enzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis, and the incorporation of 14C-glycerol-3-phosphate into lipids were determined in liver homogenates. Basal lipid synthesis by hepatocytes was not different in the three groups of patients. Insulin stimulated lipogenesis by 8% +/- 30% in the lean controls, 33% +/- 8% in the obese controls and 17% +/- 6% in the NIDDM patients. No significant differences in the activities of the five enzymes that are involved in de novo fatty acid synthesis among the three groups of patients were observed. Similarly, incorporation of 14C-glycerol-3-phosphate by liver homogenates, in the presence of saturating or submaximal concentrations of fatty acids, did not differ among the three groups. These results show that under the experimental conditions of this study, including the fasted state of the patients, the basal capacity of liver of NIDDM patients to synthesize fatty acids or glycerides is the same as that of liver from obese and lean controls. Thus, it is likely that an increase in fatty acid flux into a liver with normal lipogenic potential may contribute to the increased synthesis of triglycerides by the liver of these patients in vivo.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Increased insulin responsiveness in isolated rat hepatocytes incubated with free fatty acid-poor albumin.

Freshly isolated rat hepatocytes incubated in a medium containing bovine serum albumin partially purified by charcoal treatment at pH 3 are three times more responsive to insulin with regard to alpha-aminoisobutyric acid uptake than those incubated in medium containing regular bovine serum albumin. This finding should facilitate future work in isolated hepatocytes, a cell system that for the most part has been considered relatively unresponsive to insulin.

Aminoisobutyric Acids↗

Decreased expression of glucose transporter in muscle from insulin-resistant patients.

We have observed that in vitro incubated human muscle fiber strips from obese patients with or without non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) have reduced insulin-stimulated glucose transport rates compared with nonobese control patients. To investigate if the decrease in glucose transport is associated with a depletion of glucose transport protein, we performed Western blot analysis of muscle samples from nonobese control, obese nondiabetic, and obese NIDDM patients to measure the levels of the muscle-adipose tissue glucose transporter (GLUT-4) protein. Glucose transporter protein was depressed by 23% in the obese nondiabetic and 18% in the obese NIDDM group. The results were essentially the same in the rectus abdominus and vastus lateralis muscles. These data suggest that the decreased glucose transport rate observed in muscle of these obese patients with or without NIDDM may be due, at least in part, to a decreased expression of the "insulin-sensitive" (GLUT-4) glucose transporter. This alteration may play a role in the insulin resistance seen in obesity and diabetes.

Diabetes Mellitus↗

Muscle insulin resistance in uremic humans: glucose transport, glucose transporters, and insulin receptors.

To determine the cellular basis for insulin resistance observed in patients with uremia, we investigated insulin action in vivo and in vitro using skeletal muscle obtained from patients with chronic renal failure. Uremic subjects had significantly reduced rates of insulin-stimulated glucose disposal, as determined by a 3-h intravenous glucose tolerance test and using the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp technique. Hepatic glucose production was similar before (control, 76.2 +/- 6.3 vs. uremic, 74.2 +/- 6.9 mg.kg-1.min-1) and during insulin infusion at 40 mU.m-2.min-1 (control, -60.9 +/- 6.6 vs. uremic, -53.9 +/- 6.3 mg.kg-1.min-1). In incubated human skeletal muscle fiber strips, basal 2-deoxy-D-glucose transport was unchanged in uremic subjects compared with controls. However, the increase in insulin-stimulated glucose transport was significantly reduced by 50% in muscles from uremic patients (P = 0.012). In partially purified insulin receptors prepared from skeletal muscle, 125I-labeled insulin binding, beta-subunit receptor autophosphorylation, and tyrosine kinase activity were all unchanged in uremic subjects. The abundance of insulin-sensitive (muscle/fat, GLUT-4) glucose transporter protein measured by Western blot using Mab 1F8 or polyclonal antisera was similar in muscles of control and uremic patients. These findings suggest that the insulin resistance observed in skeletal muscle of uremic patients cannot be attributed to defects in insulin receptor function or depletion of the GLUT-4 glucose transporter protein. An alternative step in insulin-dependent activation of the glucose transport process may be involved.

Adult↗

The interaction of proinsulin with the insulin-like growth factor-I receptor in human liver, muscle, and adipose tissue.

Because of the sequence homology and tertiary structure similarities between proinsulin (PI) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), it is possible that PI interacts with the IGF-I receptor with higher affinity than insulin. To test this hypothesis in man, we have partially purified IGF-I receptors from liver, muscle, and adipose tissue and studied their interaction with PI, insulin, IGF-I, and IGF-II. With some tissue to tissue variation, [125I]insulin binding was 4- to 8-fold greater than IGF-I binding. Unlabeled IGF-I at about 1 x 10(-9 M, IGF-II at about 1 x 10(-8) M, and insulin at about 1 x 10(-6) M displace 50% the binding of [125I]IGF-I to its receptor, whereas PI at 1 x 10(-6) M displaces less than 20% of the binding of [125I]IGF-I to its receptor. We conclude that in human liver, muscle, and adipose tissue, PI does not interact with the IGF-I receptor at a higher affinity than insulin, and the affinity of IGF-I receptors is several-fold lower than that of insulin receptors. It is, therefore, unlikely that if PI were to be administered to man any of its biological effects would be by interacting with the IGF-I receptor.

Adipose Tissue↗

Immunolocalization of glucose transporter GLUT4 within human skeletal muscle.

To investigate the cellular and subcellular distribution of glucose transporters in skeletal muscle, the glucose transporter isoform GLUT4 was localized in human muscle by electron microscopy via immunogold labeling with monoclonal (1F8) or COOH-terminal peptide polyclonal (ECU4) antibody and in isolated rat membranes by Western blot. There was no labeling of GLUT4 in endothelial cells of the capillaries. There also was no labeling of GLUT4 on the surface plasma membrane (sarcolemma) under either basal or insulin-stimulated conditions. Specific labeling for GLUT4 was clearly observed in two compartments: within the triad (on terminal cisternae and transverse tubules) and on an intracellular compartment, possibly sarcoplasmic tubules. Isolated triad membranes from rat muscle also contained substantial quantities of GLUT4 transporter, but there was no detectable GLUT4 protein in isolated sarcolemmal membranes. These data suggest a possible mechanism that involves glucose transport across the muscle cell at the transverse tubule membrane, not the sarcolemma.

Animals↗

Adipose tissue glucose transporters in NIDDM. Decreased levels of muscle/fat isoform.

We investigated the mechanism of peripheral insulin resistance in the adipose tissue of obese and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients at the level of the glucose-transport effector system. Freshly isolated adipocytes from obese nondiabetic and obese NIDDM subjects had decreased insulin sensitivity and responsiveness for glucose-transport stimulation compared with control subjects, with more pronounced changes associated with obese NIDDM patients. The relative abundance of muscle/fat glucose-transporter isoform in the three groups of subjects was determined by Western-blot analysis of detergent-soluble adipose tissue extracts with monoclonal antibody 1F8. Obesity per se had no effect on adipose tissue muscle/fat glucose-transporter isoform (3150 +/- 660 vs. 4495 +/- 410 counts/min [cpm]/mg protein). Furthermore, decreased levels of muscle/fat isoform in adipose tissue of NIDDM patients were also reflected in isolated adipocytes. Our results demonstrate that insulin resistance in isolated adipocytes of NIDDM patients could at least partly be due to a significant depletion of adipose tissue muscle/fat glucose-transporter isoform.

Adipose Tissue↗