mTORC1 syndrome (TorS): unified paradigm for diabetes/metabolic syndrome

MTBE exposure may increase the risk of insulin resistance in male gas station workers

Insulin resistance is closely related to many metabolic diseases and has become a serious public health problem worldwide. So, it is crucial to find its environmental pathogenic factors. Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a widely used unleaded gasoline additive, has been proven to affect glycolipid metabolism. However, results from population studies are lacking. For this purpose, the potential relationships between MTBE exposure and the triglyceride glucose (TyG) index, a useful surrogate marker of insulin resistance, were evaluated using a small-scale occupational population. In this study, 201 participants including occupational and non-occupational MTBE exposure workers were recruited from the Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Hospital of Huaibei, and their health examination information and blood samples with informed consent were collected. The internal exposure levels were assessed by detecting blood MTBE using solid-phase-micro-extraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Then the adjusted linear regression model was used to assess the relationship between MTBE exposure and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), or TyG index. Then, receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curves were performed to calculate the optimal cut-off points. Multivariable and hierarchical logistic regression models were used to analyze the impact of MTBE exposure on the risk of insulin resistance. Obvious correlations were observed between blood MTBE levels with TyG index (p = 0.016) and FPG (p = 0.001). Further analysis showed that using the mean of the TyG index (8.77) as a cutoff value had a good effect on reflecting the risk of insulin resistance. Multivariable logistic regression analysis also indicated that MTBE exposure was an independent risk factor for a high TyG index (OR = 1.088, p = 0.038), which indicated that MTBE exposure might be a new environmental pathogenic factor leading to insulin resistance, and MTBE exposure might increase the risk of insulin resistance by independently elevating the TyG index in male gas station workers.

TorS - Reframing a rational for type 2 diabetes treatment

The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 syndrome (Tors), paradigm implies an exhaustive cohesive disease entity driven by a hyperactive mTORC1, and which includes obesity, type 2 diabetic hyperglycemia, diabetic dyslipidemia, diabetic cardiomyopathy, diabetic nephropathy, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, some cancers, neurodegeneration, polycystic ovary syndrome, psoriasis and other. The TorS paradigm may account for the efficacy of standard-of-care treatments of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in alleviating the glycaemic and non-glycaemic diseases of TorS in T2D and non-T2D patients. The TorS paradigm may generate novel treatments for TorS diseases.

β-elemene alleviates hyperglycemia-induced cardiac inflammation and remodeling by inhibiting the JAK/STAT3-NF-κB pathway

BACKGROUND

Hyperglycemic induced cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac inflammation are important pathological processes in diabetic cardiomyopathy. β-elemene (Ele) is a natural compound extracted from Curcuma Rhizoma and has anti-tumor effects. It also has therapeutic effects in some inflammatory diseases. However, the therapeutic effect of Ele on diabetic cardiomyopathy is not clear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Ele on hyperglycemia-caused cardiac remodeling and heart failure.

METHODS

C57BL/6 mice were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin to induce DCM, and Ele was administered intragastric after 8 weeks to investigate the effect of Ele. RNA sequencing of cardiac tissue was performed to investigate the mechanism.

RESULTS

Ele markedly inhibited cardiac inflammation, fibrosis and hypertrophy in diabetic mice, as well as in high glucose-induced cardiomyocytes. RNA sequencing showed that cardioprotective effect of Ele involved the JAK/STAT3-NF-κB signaling pathway. Ele alleviated heart and cardiomyocyte inflammation in mice by blocking diabetes-induced JAK2 and STAT3 phosphorylation and NF-κB activation.

CONCLUSIONS

The study found that Ele preserved the hearts of diabetic mice by inhibiting JAK/STAT3 and NF-κB mediated inflammatory responses, suggesting that Ele is an effective therapy for DCM.