Mitochondria respiration and susceptibility to ischemia-reperfusion injury in diabetic hearts

Effect of Alcohol Administration on Mg2+ Homeostasis in H9C2 Cells

Alcoholic cardiomyopathy represents one of the main clinical complications in chronic alcoholics. This pathology contrasts the seemingly beneficial effect of small doses of alcohol on the cardiovascular system. Studies carried out in liver cells exposed acutely or chronically to varying doses of EtOH indicate that intrahepatic alcohol metabolism results in a major loss of cellular Mg²⁺. To investigate whether EtOH administration also induced Mg²⁺ extrusion in cardiac cells, H9C2 cells were exposed to varying doses of EtOH for short- or ling-term periods of time. The results indicate that H9C2 cells exposed to EtOH doses higher than 0.1% (v/v, or 15 mM) extruded Mg²⁺ into the extracellular medium on a time- and dose-dependent manner. Consistent with the involvement of cyP4502E1 in metabolizing EtOH, administration of chloro-methiazole (CMZ) as an inhibitor of the cytochrome prevented EtOH-induced Mg²⁺ loss to a large extent. EtOH-induced Mg²⁺ extrusion was also prevented by the administration of di-thio-treitol (DTT) and n-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), two agents that prevent the negative effects of ROS formation and free radicals generation associated with EtOH metabolism by cyP4502E1.

Taken together, our data indicate that Mg²⁺ extrusion also occur in cardiac cells exposed to EtOH as a result of alcohol metabolism by cyP4502E1 and associated free radical formation. Interestingly, Mg²⁺ extrusion only occurs at doses of EtOH higher than 0.1% administered for an extended period of time. The significance of Mg²⁺ extrusion for the onset of alcoholic cardiomyopathy remains to be elucidated.

Protective effects of Acyl-coA thioesterase 1 on diabetic heart via PPARα/PGC1α signaling

Background

Using fatty acids (FAs) exclusively for ATP generation was reported to contribute to the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. We studied the role of substrate metabolism related genes in the heart of the diabetes to find out a novel therapeutic target for diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Methods and Results

By microarray analysis of metabolic gene expression, acyl-CoA thioesterase 1 (acot1) was clearly upregulated in the myocardia of db/db mice, compared with normal control C57BL/Ks. Therefore, gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches were employed in db/db mice to investigate the functions of ACOT1 in oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and heart function. We found that in the hearts of db/db mice which overexpressed ACOT1, H₂O₂ and malondialdehyde (MDA) were reduced, the activities of ATPases in mitochondria associated with mitochondrial function were promoted, the expression of uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) contributing to oxygen wastage for noncontractile purposes was decreased, and cardiac dysfunction was attenuated, as determined by both hemodynamic and echocardiographic detections. Consistently, ACOT1 deficiency had opposite effects, which accelerated the cardiac damage induced by diabetes. Notably, by real-time PCR, we found that overexpression of ACOT1 in diabetic heart repressed the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha/PPARγ coactivator 1α (PPARα/PGC1α) signaling, as shown by decreased expression of PGC1α and the downstream genes involved in FAs use.

Conclusion

Our results demonstrated that ACOT1 played a crucial protective role in diabetic heart via PPARα/PGC1α signaling.

Corrections by melatonin of liver mitochondrial disorders under diabetes and acute intoxication in rats

The aim of the present work was to investigate the mechanisms of oxidative damage of the liver mitochondria under diabetes and intoxication in rats as well as to evaluate the possibility of corrections of mitochondrial disorders by pharmacological doses of melatonin. The experimental (30 days) streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus caused a significant damage of the respiratory activity in rat liver mitochondria. In the case of succinate as a respiratory substrate, the ADP-stimulated respiration rate V₃ considerably decreased (by 25%, p < 0·05) as well as the acceptor control ratio (ACR) V₃/V₂ markedly diminished (by 25%, p < 0·01). We observed a decrease of the ADP-stimulated respiration rate V₃ by 35% (p < 0·05), with glutamate as substrate. In this case, ACR also decreased (by 20%, p < 0·05). Surprisingly, the phosphorylation coefficient ADP/O did not change under diabetic liver damage. Acute rat carbon tetrachloride-induced intoxication resulted in considerable decrease of the phosphorylation coefficient because of uncoupling of the oxidation and phosphorylation processes in the liver mitochondria. The melatonin administration during diabetes (10 mg·kg⁻¹ body weight, 30 days, daily) showed a considerable protective effect on the liver mitochondrial function, reversing the decreased respiration rate V₃ and the diminished ACR to the control values both for succinate-dependent respiration and for glutamate-dependent respiration. The melatonin administration to intoxicated animals (10 mg·kg⁻¹ body weight, three times) partially increased the rate of succinate-dependent respiration coupled with phosphorylation. The impairment of mitochondrial respiratory plays a key role in the development of liver injury under diabetes and intoxication. Melatonin might be considered as an effector that regulates the mitochondrial function under diabetes.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy-associated dysfunction in spatially distinct mitochondrial subpopulations

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is the leading cause of heart failure among diabetic patients, and mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated as an underlying cause in the pathogenesis. Cardiac mitochondria consist of two spatially, functionally, and morphologically distinct subpopulations, termed subsarcolemmal mitochondria (SSM) and interfibrillar mitochondria (IFM). SSM are situated beneath the plasma membrane, whereas IFM are embedded between myofibrils. The goal of this study was to determine whether spatially distinct cardiac mitochondrial subpopulations respond differently to a diabetic phenotype. Swiss-Webster mice were subjected to intraperitoneal injections of streptozotocin or citrate saline vehicle. Five weeks after injections, diabetic hearts displayed decreased rates of contraction, relaxation, and left ventricular developed pressures (P < 0.05 for all three). Both mitochondrial size (forward scatter, P < 0.01) and complexity (side scatter, P < 0.01) were decreased in diabetic IFM but not diabetic SSM. Electron transport chain complex II respiration was decreased in diabetic SSM (P < 0.05) and diabetic IFM (P < 0.01), with the decrease being greater in IFM. Furthermore, IFM complex I respiration and complex III activity were decreased with diabetes (P < 0.01) but were unchanged in SSM. Superoxide production was increased only in diabetic IFM (P < 0.01). Oxidative damage to proteins and lipids, indexed through nitrotyrosine residues and lipid peroxidation, were higher in diabetic IFM (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). The mitochondria-specific phospholipid cardiolipin was decreased in diabetic IFM (P < 0.01) but not SSM. These results indicate that diabetes mellitus imposes a greater stress on the IFM subpopulation, which is associated, in part, with increased superoxide generation and oxidative damage, resulting in morphological and functional abnormalities that may contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Type 1 diabetic akita mouse hearts are insulin sensitive but manifest structurally abnormal mitochondria that remain coupled despite increased uncoupling protein 3

OBJECTIVE

Fatty acid-induced mitochondrial uncoupling and oxidative stress have been proposed to reduce cardiac efficiency and contribute to cardiac dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. We hypothesized that mitochondrial uncoupling may also contribute to reduced cardiac efficiency and contractile dysfunction in the type 1 diabetic Akita mouse model (Akita).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Cardiac function and substrate utilization were determined in isolated working hearts and in vivo function by echocardiography. Mitochondrial function and coupling were determined in saponin-permeabilized fibers, and proton leak kinetics was determined in isolated mitochondria. Hydrogen peroxide production and aconitase activity were measured in isolated mitochondria, and total reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured in heart homogenates.

RESULTS

Resting cardiac function was normal in Akita mice, and myocardial insulin sensitivity was preserved. Although Akita hearts oxidized more fatty acids, myocardial O(2) consumption was not increased, and cardiac efficiency was not reduced. ADP-stimulated mitochondrial oxygen consumption and ATP synthesis were decreased, and mitochondria showed grossly abnormal morphology in Akita. There was no evidence of oxidative stress, and despite a twofold increase in uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) content, ATP-to-O ratios and proton leak kinetics were unchanged, even after perfusion of Akita hearts with 1 mmol/l palmitate.

CONCLUSIONS

Insulin-deficient Akita hearts do not exhibit fatty acid-induced mitochondrial uncoupling, indicating important differences in the basis for mitochondrial dysfunction between insulin-responsive type 1 versus insulin-resistant type 2 diabetic hearts. Increased UCP3 levels do not automatically increase mitochondrial uncoupling in the heart, which supports the hypothesis that fatty acid-induced mitochondrial uncoupling as exists in type 2 diabetic hearts requires a concomitant increase in ROS generation.

Diabetes or peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha agonist increases mitochondrial thioesterase I activity in heart

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR alpha) is a transcriptional regulator of the expression of mitochondrial thioesterase I (MTE-I) and uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3), which are induced in the heart at the mRNA level in response to diabetes. Little is known about the regulation of protein expression of MTE-I and UCP3 or about MTE-I activity; thus, we investigated the effects of diabetes and treatment with a PPAR alpha agonist on these parameters. Rats were either made diabetic with streptozotocin (55 mg/kg ip) and maintained for 10-14 days or treated with the PPAR alpha agonist fenofibrate (300 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks. MTE-I and UCP3 protein expression, MTE-1 activity, palmitate export, and oxidative phosphorylation were measured in isolated cardiac mitochondria. Diabetes and fenofibrate increased cardiac MTE-I mRNA, protein, and activity ( approximately 4-fold compared with controls). This increase in activity was matched by a 6-fold increase in palmitate export in fenofibrate-treated animals, despite there being no effect in either group on UCP3 protein expression. Both diabetes and fenofibrate caused significant decreases in state III respiration of isolated mitochondria with pyruvate + malate as the substrate, but only diabetes reduced state III rates with palmitoylcarnitine. Both diabetes and specific PPAR alpha activation increased MTE-I protein, activity, and palmitate export in the heart, with little effect on UCP3 protein expression.

Fatty acid metabolism is enhanced in type 2 diabetic hearts

The metabolic phenotype of hearts has been investigated using rodent models of type 2 diabetes which exhibit obesity and insulin resistance: db/db and ob/ob mice, and Zucker fatty and ZDF rats. In general, cardiac fatty acid (FA) utilization is enhanced in type 2 diabetic hearts, with increased rates of FA oxidation (db/db, ob/ob and ZDF models) and increased FA esterification into cellular triacylglycerols (db/db hearts). Hearts from db/db and ob/ob mice and ZDF rat hearts all have elevated levels of myocardial triacylglycerols, consistent with enhanced FA utilization. A number of mechanisms may be responsible for enhanced FA utilization in type 2 diabetic hearts: (i) increased FA uptake into cardiac myocytes and into mitochondria; (ii) altered mitochondrial function, with up-regulation of uncoupling proteins; and (iii) stimulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha. Enhanced cardiac FA utilization in rodent type 2 diabetic models is associated with reduced cardiac contractile function, perhaps as a consequence of lipotoxicity and/or reduced cardiac efficiency. Similar results have been obtained with human type 2 diabetic hearts, suggesting that pharmacological interventions that can reduce cardiac FA utilization may have beneficial effects on contractile function.