Stimulatory effect of stevioside on peripheral mu opioid receptors in animals

Long-Term Consumption of Sucralose Induces Hepatic Insulin Resistance through an Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase 1/2-Dependent Pathway

Sugar substitutes have been recommended to be used for weight and glycemic control. However, numerous studies indicate that consumption of artificial sweeteners exerts adverse effects on glycemic homeostasis. Although sucralose is among the most extensively utilized sweeteners in food products, the effects and detailed mechanisms of sucralose on insulin sensitivity remain ambiguous. In this study, we found that bolus administration of sucralose by oral gavage enhanced insulin secretion to decrease plasma glucose levels in mice. In addition, mice were randomly allocated into three groups, chow diet, high-fat diet (HFD), and HFD supplemented with sucralose (HFSUC), to investigate the effects of long-term consumption of sucralose on glucose homeostasis. In contrast to the effects of sucralose with bolus administration, the supplement of sucralose augmented HFD-induced insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, determined by glucose and insulin tolerance tests. In addition, we found that administration of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-1/2 inhibitor reversed the effects of sucralose on glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in mice. Moreover, blockade of taste receptor type 1 member 3 (T1R3) by lactisole or pretreatment of endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibitors diminished sucralose-induced insulin resistance in HepG2 cells. Taken together, sucralose augmented HFD-induced insulin resistance in mice, and interrupted insulin signals through a T1R3-ERK1/2-dependent pathway in the liver.

Endogenous opioid modulation of food intake and body weight: Implications for opioid influences upon motivation and addiction

This review is part of a special issue dedicated to Opioid addiction, and examines the influential role of opioid peptides, opioid receptors and opiate drugs in mediating food intake and body weight control in rodents. This review postulates that opioid mediation of food intake was an example of "positive addictive" properties that provide motivational drives to maintain opioid-seeking behavior and that are not subject to the "negative addictive" properties associated with tolerance, dependence and withdrawal. Data demonstrate that opiate and opioid peptide agonists stimulate food intake through homeostatic activation of sensory, metabolic and energy-related In contrast, general, and particularly mu-selective, opioid receptor antagonists typically block these homeostatically-driven ingestive behaviors. Intake of palatable and hedonic food stimuli is inhibited by general, and particularly mu-selective, opioid receptor antagonists. The selectivity of specific opioid agonists to elicit food intake was confirmed through the use of opioid receptor antagonists and molecular knockdown (antisense) techniques incapacitating specific exons of opioid receptor genes. Further extensive evidence demonstrated that homeostatic and hedonic ingestive situations correspondingly altered the levels and expression of opioid peptides and opioid receptors. Opioid mediation of food intake was controlled by a distributed brain network intimately related to both the appetitive-consummatory sites implicated in food intake as well as sites intimately involved in reward and reinforcement. This emergent system appears to sustain the "positive addictive" properties providing motivational drives to maintain opioid-seeking behavior.

Anti diabetic property of aqueous extract of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni leaves in Streptozotocin-induced diabetes in albino rats

BACKGROUND

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) natural, non-caloric sugar substitute is rich source of pharmacologically important glycoside stevioside that is linked to the pathology and complications of diabetes.

METHODS

The current research was carried out to explore the anti-diabetic effect of aqueous extract of Stevia rebaudiana leaves in albino rats. For this purpose, diabetes was induced by administration of streptozotocin (40 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally). The diabetic rats were administered with aqueous stevia extract at different dose levels (200, 300, 400 and 500 ppm/kg b.w) for 8 weeks; the control rats were fed basal diet during this period.

RESULTS

Stevia aqueous extract improved caloric management and weight control by decreasing the feed intake and body weight gain. Furthermore, intake of stevia extract resulted in significant (P < 0.05) decrease in the random blood glucose level (- 73.24%) and fasting blood glucose (- 66.09%) and glycosylated (HbA1c) hemoglobin (5.32%) while insulin (17.82 μIU/mL) and liver glycogen (45.02 mg/g) levels significantly improved in the diabetic rats, compared with the diabetic and non-diabetic control rats after 8 weeks study period.

CONCLUSIONS

It is concluded that aqueous extact of stevia has anti-diabetic effects in albino rats, and therefore could be promising nutraceutical therapy for the management of diabetes and its associated complications.

Endogenous opioids and feeding behavior: A decade of further progress (2004-2014). A Festschrift to Dr. Abba Kastin

Functional elucidation of the endogenous opioid system temporally paralleled the creation and growth of the journal, Peptides, under the leadership of its founding editor, Dr. Abba Kastin. He was prescient in publishing annual and uninterrupted reviews on Endogenous Opiates and Behavior that served as a microcosm for the journal under his stewardship. This author published a 2004 review, "Endogenous opioids and feeding behavior: a thirty-year historical perspective", summarizing research in this field between 1974 and 2003. The present review "closes the circle" by reviewing the last 10 years (2004-2014) of research examining the role of endogenous opioids and feeding behavior. The review summarizes effects upon ingestive behavior following administration of opioid receptor agonists, in opioid receptor knockout animals, following administration of general opioid receptor antagonists, following administration of selective mu, delta, kappa and ORL-1 receptor antagonists, and evaluating opioid peptide and opioid receptor changes in different food intake models.

Canavanine increases glucose uptake in C2 C12 cells through the activation of imidazoline I-2B receptors

Canavanine is a guanidinium derivative that contains the basic structure of the ligand(s) of imidazoline receptor (I-R). Canavanine has been reported to activate the imidazoline I-3 receptor (I-3R) both in vivo and in vitro. Additionally, the activation of the imidazoline I-2B receptor (I-2BR) by guanidinium derivatives may increase glucose uptake. Therefore, the effect of canavanine on the I-2BR was investigated in the present study. Glucose uptake into cultured C2 C12 cells was determined using the radio-ligated tracer 2-[(14) C]-deoxy-glucose. The changes in 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) expression were also identified using Western blotting analysis. The canavanine-induced glucose uptake was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by BU224 (0.01-1 μmol/L), which is a specific I-2BR antagonist, in the C2 C12 cells. Additionally, the canavanine-stimulated AMPK phosphorylation and glucose transporter (GLUT4) expression were also sensitive to BU224 inhibition in the C2 C12 cells. Moreover, both canavanine-stimulated glucose uptake and AMPK phosphorylation were attenuated by high concentrations of amiloride (1-2 μmol/L), which is another established I-2BR inhibitor, in a dose-dependent manner in C2 C12 cells. Additionally, compound C abolished the canavanine-induced glucose uptake and AMPK phosphorylation at a concentration (0.1 μmol/L) sufficient to inhibit AMPK. In conclusion, these data demonstrated that canavanine has an ability to activate I-2BR through the AMPK pathway to increase glucose uptake, which indicates I-2BR as a new target for diabetic therapy.

Opiate-induced constipation related to activation of small intestine opioid μ2-receptors

AIM: To investigate the role of opioid μ-receptor subtype in opiate-induced constipation (OIC).

METHODS: The effect of loperamide on intestinal transit was investigated in mice. Ileum strips were isolated from 12-wk-old male BALB/c mice for identification of isometric tension. The ileum strips were precontracted with 1 μmol/L acetylcholine (ACh). Then, decrease in muscle tone (relaxation) was characterized after cumulative administration of 0.1-10 μmol/L loperamide into the organ bath, for a concentration-dependent study. Specific blockers or antagonists were used for pretreatment to compare the changes in loperamide-induced relaxation.

RESULTS: In addition to the delay in intestinal transit, loperamide produced a marked relaxation in isolated ileum precontracted with ACh, in a dose-dependent manner. This relaxation was abolished by cyprodime, a selective opioid μ-receptor antagonist, but not modified by naloxonazine at a dose sufficient to block opioid μ-1 receptors. Also, treatment with opioid μ-1 receptor agonist failed to modify the muscle tone. Moreover, the relaxation by loperamide was attenuated by glibenclamide at a dose sufficient to block ATP-sensitive K⁺ (K_ATP) channels, and by protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor, but was enhanced by an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase for cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP).

CONCLUSION: Loperamide induces intestinal relaxation by activation of opioid μ-2 receptors via the cAMP-PKA pathway to open K_ATP channels, relates to OIC.

Prostatic relaxation induced by loperamide is mediated through activation of opioid μ-2 receptors in vitro

The merit of opioid μ-receptor activation in the improvement of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) remains obscure. In the present study, we used loperamide to identify the subtype of opioid μ-receptors involved in prostatic relaxation and investigate the possible mechanism of this relaxation. Prostate strips were isolated from 12-week-old male Wistar rats for identification of isometric tension. The prostate strips were precontracted with either 1 μmol/l phenylephrine or 50 mmol/l KCl. The decrease in muscle tone (relaxation) was then characterized after cumulative administration of loperamide (0.1 to 10 μmol/l) into the organ bath for the concentration-dependent study. Pretreatment with specific blockers or antagonists was carried out to compare the changes in loperamide-induced relaxation. Loperamide produced a marked relaxation in the isolated prostates precontracted with phenylephrine or KCl in a dose-dependent manner. This relaxation was abolished by cyprodime, a selective opioid μ-receptor antagonist, but was not modified by naloxonazine at a dose sufficient to block the opioid μ-1 receptors. Treatment with an agonist for opioid μ-1 receptors also failed to modify the muscle tone. Moreover, the relaxation by loperamide was attenuated by glibenclamide at a dose sufficient to block ATP-sensitive K(+) channels. In addition, this action of loperamide was abolished by protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor and enhanced by the inhibitor of phosphodiesterase for cyclic AMP (cAMP). Our results suggest that loperamide induces prostatic relaxation through activation of opioid μ-2 receptors via the cAMP-PKA pathway to open ATP-sensitive K(+) channels.

Endogenous opiates and behavior: 2009

This paper is the 32nd consecutive installment of the annual review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system. It summarizes papers published during 2009 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides, opioid receptors, opioid agonists and opioid antagonists. The particular topics that continue to be covered include the molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors related to behavior (Section 2), and the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia (Section 3); stress and social status (Section 4); tolerance and dependence (Section 5); learning and memory (Section 6); eating and drinking (Section 7); alcohol and drugs of abuse (Section 8); sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology (Section 9); mental illness and mood (Section 10); seizures and neurologic disorders (Section 11); electrical-related activity and neurophysiology (Section 12); general activity and locomotion (Section 13); gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions (Section 14); cardiovascular responses (Section 15); respiration and thermoregulation (Section 16); and immunological responses (Section 17).

Decrease of plasma glucose by allantoin, an active principle of yam ( Dioscorea spp.), in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

The effect of allantoin, an active component of yam, on plasma glucose of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (STZ-diabetic rats) is investigated. Allantoin decreased plasma glucose levels in a dose-related manner, which was reduced by pretreatment with naloxone or naloxonazine. A concomitant increase in plasma β-endorphin, detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, was observed. Moreover, allantoin enhanced β-endorphin release from the isolated adrenal medulla of STZ-diabetic rat in a dose-related manner. However, its plasma glucose lowering action was reduced but not totally abolished by bilateral adrenalectomy. Furthermore, allantoin directly increased radioactive glucose uptake in isolated skeletal muscle, and repeated administration for 3 days increased GLUT4 mRNA and protein levels in muscle. This effect was markedly reduced in STZ-diabetic rats with bilateral adrenalectomy. This study suggests that allantoin increases GLUT4 gene expression in muscle by increasing β-endorphin secretion from the adrenal gland in STZ-diabetic rats.

Melatonin ameliorates high fat diet-induced diabetes and stimulates glycogen synthesis via a PKCzeta-Akt-GSK3beta pathway in hepatic cells

Low levels of melatonin in circulation had been reported to be related to the development of diabetes. Melatonin administration in animals increases hepatic glycogen content to lower blood glucose. However, the signaling pathway for these effects is still unclear. The present study shows that intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg melatonin ameliorated glucose utilization and insulin sensitivity in high fat diet-induced diabetic mice with an increase in hepatic glycogen and improvement in liver steatosis. We used HepG2 cells to investigate the signaling pathways for the melatonin-stimulated hepatic glycogen increment. Treatment of HepG2 cells with 1 nm melatonin markedly increased glycogen synthesis which was blocked by the melatonin receptor antagonist luzindole. In addition, melatonin increased the phosphorylation of subcellular signals at the level of protein kinase C zeta (PKCzeta), Akt, and glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK3beta) while the increase in glycogen synthesis induced by melatonin was inhibited by PKCzeta pseudo-peptide. However, 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was not influenced by melatonin treatment. Taken together, melatonin improves glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in high fat diet-induced diabetic mice and stimulates glycogen synthesis via a PKCzeta-Akt-GSK3beta pathway in HepG2 cells.