Nutritional regulation of glucose transporter in muscle and adipose tissue of weaned rats

The role of glucose transporters GLUT-1 and GLUT-4 in the development of insulin sensitivity at weaning in rat skeletal muscles and adipose tissue was studied in relation to the nutritional changes when suckling rats shift from a high-fat (HF) to a high-carbohydrate (HCHO) diet. Insulin stimulated the translocation of GLUT-4 protein from an intracellular pool to the plasma membrane in adipocytes from suckling and HCHO- or HF-weaned rats. The GLUT-4 protein and the insulin stimulation were threefold higher in adipocytes from HCHO-weaned rats than in suckling or HF-weaned rats. GLUT-4 mRNA and protein were low in adipose tissue and skeletal muscles of suckling rats and increased two- to threefold in HCHO-weaned rats. This increase was prevented in HF-weaned rats. GLUT-1 mRNA was not affected in both tissues by the developmental stage or the nutritional environment. After feeding HCHO to a suckling rat, GLUT-4 mRNA was threefold increased in 6 days and reached a peak after 4 days in both tissues. The insulin sensitivity of glucose transport in rats at weaning might be conferred by an enhanced expression of GLUT-4, which can be induced within a few hours after feeding a HCHO diet.

Control of hepatic mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase during the foetal/neonatal transition, suckling and weaning in the rat

(1) We assayed active and total (i.e. active plus succinylated) 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) synthase in mitochondria isolated from foetal, neonatal, suckling or weaned rats. (2) HMG-CoA synthase was substantially succinylated and inactivated in mitochondria isolated from term-foetal, (1-h-old, 6-h-old, 1-day-old) neonatal, suckling and high carbohydrate/low-fat (hc)-weaned rats. Succinylation of HMG-CoA synthase was very low in mitochondria isolated from the livers of foetal, 30-min-old neonatal and high-fat/carbohydrate-free (hf)-weaned rats. (3) There was a negative correlation between active HMG-CoA synthase and succinyl-CoA content in mitochondria isolated from term-foetal, suckling and hc-weaned rats. (4) Differences in active enzyme could not be entirely accounted for by differences in succinylation and inactivation of the synthase. Immunoassay confirmed that the absolute amounts of mitochondrial HMG-CoA synthase increased during the foetal/neonatal transition and decreased with hc weaning. The levels remained elevated with hf weaning. (5) From these data we propose that mitochondrial HMG-CoA synthase is controlled by two different mechanisms in young rats. Regulation by succinylation provides a mechanism for rapid modification of existing enzyme in response to changing metabolic states. Changes in the absolute amounts of HMG-CoA synthase provide a more long-term control in response to nutritional changes.

Quantification of MSH receptors on mouse melanoma tissue by receptor autoradiography

MSH receptors on mouse melanoma tissue sections were quantified by receptor autoradiography, yielding results which were very similar to those obtained by a conventional receptor binding assay with isolated cells. In order to minimize non-specific binding, it proved to be crucial to use a radioactive monoiodinated MSH radioligand retaining full biological activity and to apply the binding conditions developed for isolated cells to the incubation of whole tissue sections. The displacement curves obtained after quantitative analysis of autoradiograms from tissue sections yielded a KD-value of the same order of magnitude (0.58 nM; average of n = 7 experiments) as those obtained in the normal binding assay with isolated cells (1.2 nM; average of n = 10 experiments). Similarly, receptor numbers per cell on tissue sections (14,700; n = 7) did not differ markedly from those determined with isolated cells (10,500; n = 10). These results demonstrate that receptor autoradiography can be applied to the quantification of peptide hormone receptors on peripheral tissues.

Biologically active monoiodinated alpha-MSH derivatives for receptor binding studies using human melanoma cells

Three different monoiodinated radioligands of alpha-MSH (alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone) were compared in a binding assay with human D10 melanoma cells: [Tyr(125I)2]-alpha-MSH, [Tyr(125I)2,NIe4]-alpha-MSH, and [Tyr(125I)2,NIe4,D-Phe7]-alpha-MSH. They were prepared either by the classical chloramine T method or by the Enzymobead method. A simple and rapid purification scheme was developed consisting of a primary separation on reversed-phase C18 silica cartridges immediately after the iodination, followed by HPLC purification before each binding experiment. Biological testing of the three radioligands showed that they all retained high melanotropic activity in the B16 melanin assay and the Anolis melanophore assay. However, in human D10 melanoma cells, [Tyr(125I)2,NIe4]-alpha-MSH led to a high degree of non-specific binding to the cells which could not be displaced by excess alpha-MSH and only partially by [NIe4]-alpha-MSH. The [Tyr(125I)2,NIe4,D-Phe7]-alpha-MSH tracer gave similar results but with a much lower proportion of non-specific binding. On the other hand, [Tyr(125I)2]-alpha-MSH proved to be an excellent radioligand whose non-specific binding to the D10 cells was not higher than 20% of the total binding.

Hormonal regulation of liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glucokinase gene expression at weaning in the rat

During the suckling period, the rats are fed continuously with milk, which is a high-fat low-carbohydrate diet (HF). At weaning, milk is progressively replaced by the rat's laboratory chow which is a high-carbohydrate low-fat diet (HCHO), and this is accompanied by large hormonal modifications: an increase in plasma insulin and a decrease in plasma glucagon concentrations, and by marked changes in metabolic pathways in liver: decrease in hepatic gluconeogenesis and increase in glycolysis and lipogenesis. Most of the data concerning these changes are related to maximal activity of enzymes. The recent availability of specific cDNA probes for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and glucokinase (GK) has allowed the study of the role of pancreatic hormones and nutrition in the changes of the expression of these genes at weaning in the rat. Regarding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene transcription, the concentration of mRNA as well as the activity of PEPCK are elevated in the liver of suckling rat until the onset of weaning, 21 d after delivery. After weaning to a HCHO diet, both mRNA and activity of PEPCK rapidly decrease to a very low level. In contrast, weaning on an HF diet, which maintains high plasma glucagon and low plasma insulin levels, does not decrease in plasma glucagon concentration and a 90% decrease in PEPCK gene transcription and PEPCK mRNA concentration in 1 h. Regarding glucokinase gene transcription, the concentration of mRNA as well as the activity of GK are not detectable before 15 d after birth in the liver of the rat. They markedly increase when the newborn are weaned on an HCHO diet but not when they are weaned on an HF diet.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Impaired hepatic glycogenolysis related to hyperinsulinemia in newborns from hyperglycemic pregnant rats

We have investigated the respective roles of insulin and glucagon in the initiation of hepatic glycogen degradation during the early postnatal period in rats, with special regard on the inhibitory effect of insulin on this process. Pregnant rats were rendered either slightly (8.5 mM) or highly hyperglycemic (22 mM) by infusing glucose during the last week of pregnancy. Fasted, newborn rats were studied from delivery to 16 h postpartum. At birth, newborns from slightly hyperglycemic rats showed higher glycemia and insulinemia and lower plasma glucagonemia compared with controls. Newborns from highly hyperglycemic rats were still more hyperglycemic and exhibited low plasma glucagon concentrations, but they were not hyperinsulinemic. In control newborns, hepatic glycogen breakdown was triggered by 2 h after delivery. By contrast, hyperglycemic-hyperinsulinemic newborns (newborns from slightly hyperglycemic rats) were unable to mobilize liver glycogen before 8-10 h after delivery. In hyperglycemic-normoinsulinemic newborns (newborns from highly hyperglycemic rats), hepatic glycogen concentration significantly started to decline 2 h after delivery and was no longer different from controls at 8 h. Anti-insulin serum injection at delivery promoted a prompt decrease in liver glycogen stores in controls as well as in newborns from slightly hyperglycemic rats. Phosphorylase a/synthase a ratio rose rapidly after delivery in controls and in newborns from highly hyperglycemic rats (maximum 4 h), whereas in newborns from slightly hyperglycemic rats, it rose much more slowly than in the two other groups (maximum 16 h). These data suggest that, in newborns from hyperglycemic mothers, hyperinsulinemia during late fetal and early neonatal life is the main factor preventing postnatal hepatic glycogenolysis.

Insulin receptor activity and insulin sensitivity in mammary gland of lactating rats

The mammary gland is a tissue that is extremely sensitive to insulin during lactation; during weaning, the effect of insulin is rapidly abolished. The purpose of this study was to characterize the mammary gland insulin receptors and their kinase activity in lactating and weaned mammary gland. The apparent molecular weight of the alpha-subunit was slightly lower in the mammary gland than in liver and white adipose tissue (127,000 vs. 134,000), but the apparent molecular weight of the beta-subunit was similar in the three tissues (95,000). Insulin induced a 10-fold increase in beta-subunit autophosphorylation, and the half-maximal effect was achieved at 2 nM insulin. After 24 h of weaning, the number of insulin receptors was decreased by 30%, but the kinase activity of the beta-subunit was unchanged. During the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp, insulin entirely activated pyruvate dehydrogenase in lactating rat mammary gland, whereas after 24 h of weaning it was unable to increase the proportion of the enzyme in the active form. These results suggest that the site of alteration in the action of insulin on the mammary gland during weaning is distal to the receptor.

Insulin and tri-iodothyronine induce glucokinase mRNA in primary cultures of neonatal rat hepatocytes

Glucokinase (EC 2.7.1.2) first appears in the liver of the rat 2 weeks after birth and increases after weaning on to a high-carbohydrate diet. We investigated the hormonal regulation of glucokinase (GK) mRNA in primary cultures of hepatocytes from 10-12-day-old suckling rats. GK mRNA was undetectable in such cells after 48 h of culture in serum-free medium devoid of hormones. Addition of insulin or tri-iodothyronine (T3) to the medium resulted in induction of GK mRNA. The effects of insulin and T3 were dose-dependent and additive. Dexamethasone alone did not induce GK mRNA, but enhanced the response to insulin and decreased the response to T3. Induction of GK mRNA by insulin was not affected when the medium glucose concentration was varied between 5 and 15 mM, nor when culture was conducted in glucose-free medium supplemented with lactate and pyruvate or galactose. The time course of initial accumulation of GK mRNA in response to insulin was characterized by a lag of 12 h and an induction plateau reached after 36 h. If hepatocytes were then withdrawn from insulin for 24 h and subsequently subjected to a secondary stimulation by insulin, GK mRNA re-accumulated with much faster kinetics and reached the fully induced level within 8 h. Both primary and secondary responses to insulin were abolished by actinomycin D. These results provide insight into the role of hormonal stimuli in the ontogenic development of hepatic glucokinase.

Initial glucose kinetics and hormonal response to a gastric glucose load in unrestrained post-absorptive and starved rats

A gastric [U-14C]glucose load (4.8 mg/g body wt.) was delivered to unrestrained post-absorptive or 30 h-starved rats bearing peripheral and portal vein catheters and continuously perfused with [3-3H]glucose, in order to compare their metabolic and hormonal responses. In the basal state, portal and peripheral glycaemia were less in starved rats than in rats in the post-absorptive period (P less than 0.01), whereas blood lactate was similar. Portal insulinaemia (P less than 0.05) and protal glucagonaemia (P less than 0.005) were lower in starved rats, but insulin/glucagon ratio was higher in post-absorptive rats (P less than 0.005). The glucose turnover rate was decreased by starvation (P less than 0.005). After glucose ingestion, blood glucose was similar in post-absorptive and starved rats. A large portoperipheral gradient of lactate appeared in starved rats. Portal insulinaemia reached a peak at 9 min, and was respectively 454 +/- 68 and 740 +/- 65 mu-units/ml in starved and post-absorptive rats. Portal glucagonaemia remained stable, but was higher in post-absorptive rats (P less than 0.05). At 60 min after the gastric glucose load, 30% of the glucose was delivered at the periphery in both groups. The total glucose appearance rate was higher in starved rats (P less than 0.05), as was the glucose utilization rate (P less than 0.05), whereas the rate of appearance of exogenous glucose was similar. This was due to a non-suppressed hepatic glucose production in the starved rats, whereas it was totally suppressed in post-absorptive rats. At 1 h after the glucose load, the increase in both liver and muscle glycogen concentration was greater in starved rats. Thus short-term fasting induces an increased portal lactate concentration after a glucose load, and produces a state of liver insulin unresponsiveness for glucose production, whereas the sensitivity of peripheral tissues for glucose utilization is unchanged or even increased. This might allow preferential replenishment of the peripheral stores of glycogen.

Evidence that the sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I to inhibition by malonyl-CoA is an important site of regulation of hepatic fatty acid oxidation in the fetal and newborn rabbit. Perinatal development and effects of pancreatic hormones in cultured rabbit hepatocytes

The temporal changes in oleate oxidation, lipogenesis, malonyl-CoA concentration and sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT 1) to malonyl-CoA inhibition were studied in isolated rabbit hepatocytes and mitochondria as a function of time after birth of the animal or time in culture after exposure to glucagon, cyclic AMP or insulin. (1) Oleate oxidation was very low during the first 6 h after birth, whereas lipogenesis rate and malonyl-CoA concentration decreased rapidly during this period to reach levels as low as those found in 24-h-old newborns that show active oleate oxidation. (2) The changes in the activity of CPT I and the IC50 (concn. causing 50% inhibition) for malonyl-CoA paralleled those of oleate oxidation. (3) In cultured fetal hepatocytes, the addition of glucagon or cyclic AMP reproduced the changes that occur spontaneously after birth. A 12 h exposure to glucagon or cyclic AMP was sufficient to inhibit lipogenesis totally and to cause a decrease in malonyl-CoA concentration, but a 24 h exposure was required to induce oleate oxidation. (4) The induction of oleate oxidation by glucagon or cyclic AMP is triggered by the fall in the malonyl-CoA sensitivity of CPT I. (5) In cultured hepatocytes from 24 h-old newborns, the addition of insulin inhibits no more than 30% of the high oleate oxidation, whereas it stimulates lipogenesis and increases malonyl-CoA concentration by 4-fold more than in fetal cells (no oleate oxidation). This poor effect of insulin on oleate oxidation seems to be due to the inability of the hormone to increase the sensitivity of CPT I sufficiently. Altogether, these results suggest that the malonyl-CoA sensitivity of CPT I is the major site of regulation during the induction of fatty acid oxidation in the fetal rabbit liver.

Insulin resistance of glucose metabolism in isolated brown adipocytes of lactating rats. Evidence for a post-receptor defect in insulin action

The mechanism responsible for the insulin resistance described in vivo in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of lactating rats was investigated. The effect of insulin on glucose metabolism was studied on isolated brown adipocytes of non-lactating and lactating rats. Insulin stimulation of total glucose metabolism is 50% less in brown adipocytes from lactating than from non-lactating rats. This reflects a decreased effect of insulin on glucose oxidation and lipogenesis. However, the effect of noradrenaline (8 microM) on glucose metabolism was preserved in brown adipocytes from lactating rats as compared with non-lactating rats. The number of insulin receptors is similar in BAT of lactating and non-lactating rats. The insulin-receptor tyrosine kinase activity is not altered during lactation, for receptor autophosphorylation as well as tyrosine kinase activity towards the synthetic peptide poly(Glu4-Tyr1). The defect in the action of insulin is thus localized at a post-receptor level. The insulin stimulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase activity during euglycaemic/hyperinsulinaemic clamps is 2-fold lower in BAT from lactating than from non-lactating rats. However, the percentage of active form of pyruvate dehydrogenase is similar in non-lactating and lactating rats (8.6% versus 8.9% in the basal state, and 37.0% versus 32.3% during the clamp). A decrease in the amount of pyruvate dehydrogenase is likely to be involved in the insulin resistance described in BAT during lactation.

Hormonal control of specific gene expression in the rat liver during the suckling-weaning transition

In the rat, the suckling-weaning transition is accompanied by marked changes in nutrition. During the suckling period, the pups are fed with milk which is a high-fat low-carbohydrate diet. At weaning, milk is progressively replaced by the rat chow which is a high-carbohydrate low-fat diet. This is accompanied by considerable hormonal modifications: an increase in plasma insulin and a decrease in plasma glucagon concentrations, as well as by marked changes in metabolic pathways in liver: decrease in hepatic gluconeogenesis, increase in lipogenesis, and appearance of liver glucokinase. Most of the data concerning these changes are related to maximal activity of enzymes. The recent availability of specific cDNA probes for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, fatty acid synthase and glucokinase has allowed study of the role of pancreatic hormones and of nutrition in the changes of the expression of these genes at weaning in the rat.

Measurement of urinary growth hormone. A noninvasive method to assess the 'growth hormone status'

Using pharmacological tests or GH profiles, GH deficiency or active acromegaly can be diagnosed. However, it is impossible to discriminate within the continuum between 'deficiency/insufficiency' and 'sufficient secretion'. The use of GH to improve growth velocity is based on 1 injection once a day. It is thus the total amount of GH which appears to be important for its growth-promoting effect. An assay of GH in urine allows to assess such GH 'production', even over a prolonged period of time. A radiometric two-step assay applicable to untreated urine is presented. Results for assessing the 'GH status' by measuring GH in 24-hour urine, first morning-void urine or timed urine samples are shown. The correlation between 24-hour plasma profiles and the simultaneously collected 24-hour urine is significant at p less than 0.01. A correlation coefficient greater than 0.9 was found between timed urine samples (4 h) and the 120-min plasma GH values during GHRH stimulation tests. The night-to-night variation of urinary GH can be very important. It is advisable, therefore, to use the mean of several night urines. The correlation between the mean urinary GH of 5 nights to one 24-hour sample is significant at p less than 0.01. An age-dependent increase in urinary GH is found in the pubertal age group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Metabolic adaptations to change of nutrition at birth

Birth represents a dramatic change of nutrition from a fetal diet rich in carbohydrates and poor in fat to a neonatal diet rich in fat and poor in carbohydrates. Gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis are absent or very low in the fetal liver when the mother is correctly fed, and these metabolic pathways emerge after birth to reach adult values after 24 h. Gluconeogenesis increases rapidly in the liver of the newborn in parallel with the appearance of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), the rate-limiting enzyme of this metabolic pathway. The rise in plasma glucagon, the fall in plasma insulin and the resulting increase in liver cAMP which occur immediately after birth are the factors which induce the activation of liver PEPCK gene transcription. The appearance of ketogenesis is also controlled by the changes of plasma insulin and glucagon that increase the capacity for liver fatty acid oxidation by decreasing lipogenesis and malonyl-CoA concentration, by reducing the sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyl-CoA I to the inhibitory influence of malonyl-CoA, and by activating hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase by desuccinylation. Once liver PEPCK has reached adult value, i.e. 12 h after birth, other factors are involved in the regulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis. Indeed, the supply of gluconeogenic substrates and of free fatty acid is of crucial importance to support a high rate of gluconeogenesis and to maintain normoglycemia in the newborn. In the liver, fatty acid oxidation provides essential co-factors (acetyl-CoA, NADH and ATP) to support gluconeogenesis, and in peripheral tissue fatty acid oxidation inhibits glucose oxidation and stimulates the production of gluconeogenic precursors (lactate, pyruvate and alanine). Similar mechanisms are operative in human newborn. A defective hepatic fatty acid oxidation is likely to explain the frequent hypoglycemia observed in small-for-date neonates. Administration of oral triglycerides is an efficient mean to prevent hypoglycemia in these newborns.

Lipogenic enzyme activities and mRNA in rat adipose tissue at weaning

The activities and mRNA concentrations of two lipogenic enzymes, fatty acid synthetase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and one enzyme involved in glyceroneogenesis, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), were measured in rat white adipose tissue during the suckling-weaning transition. Activities and mRNA concentrations of lipogenic enzymes were low in suckling rats, whereas activity and mRNA concentration of PEPCK were high. At weaning to a high-carbohydrate diet, the rapid increase in lipogenic enzymes mRNA (10- to 20-fold) and decrease in PEPCK mRNA (10-fold) were followed by parallel changes in enzyme activities. In contrast, weaning to a high-fat diet prevented these modifications. Force feeding suckling rats with carbohydrates induced a rise in blood glucose and plasma insulin concentrations. During these experiments, mRNA concentrations increased 10- to 20-fold for lipogenic enzymes and decreased 5-fold for PEPCK in less than 6 h, whereas all enzyme activities did not vary. This suggests a pretranslational regulation of gene expression. Force feeding suckling rats with a mixture of fat devoid of carbohydrate induced a slight increase in plasma insulin concentration and a fall in PEPCK mRNA but was not accompanied by a rise in lipogenic enzyme mRNAs. This suggested that insulin is a prime regulator of PEPCK gene expression, whereas glucose and insulin act synergistically in the regulation of lipogenic enzyme gene expression.

Normal insulin sensitivity during the phase of glucose intolerance but insulin resistance at the onset of diabetes in the spontaneously diabetic BB rat

In diabetes-prone BB rats, 30 to 50% of animals undergo autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic B-cells leading to a short period of glucose intolerance, followed by an abrupt onset of diabetes. We have examined whether the glucose intolerance period and the onset of diabetes are associated with changes in insulin sensitivity, using the euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp coupled with [3-3H] glucose infusion. Glucose intolerant rats were detected by a transient glycosuria one hour after an oral glucose load performed every four days. Insulin sensitivity studied in these rats the day following their detection was normal. Other diabetes-prone BB rats were tested daily and studied on the first day of glycosuria. In the basal state, glucose production was increased in diabetic rats (11.3 +/- 1.1 vs 7.1 +/- 0.8 mg.min-1.kg-1, p less than 0.05). Tissue glucose utilization was similar in diabetic and control rats (8.3 +/- 0.5 vs 7.1 +/- 0.8 mg.min-1.kg-1) despite a three fold higher glycaemia in the diabetic rats. During the hyperinsulinaemic clamps, glycaemia was clamped at 6.1-6.6 mmol/l in diabetic and control rats. A decreased insulin sensitivity was observed in diabetic rats at submaximal (200 microU/ml) and maximal (1500 microU/ml) insulin concentrations for both inhibition of hepatic glucose production and stimulation of glucose utilization. No autoantibodies against insulin could be detected in the plasma of diabetic rats. Plasma concentrations of glucagon, catecholamines, ketone bodies and fatty acids were similar in control and diabetic rats during the clamp studies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)