Synergistic improvement of glucose tolerance by sucrose feeding and exercise training

Augmented beta cell loss and mitochondrial abnormalities in sucrose-fed GK rats

Progressive decline of islet beta cell mass is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes, where nutritional insults are invoked in the pathologic process. Its detailed mechanisms are, however, incompletely understood. We explored the effect of sucrose diet on mitochondria in Goto Kakizaki (GK) rats, a spontaneously diabetic model. Six-week-old male GK rats were given 30% sucrose orally for 2 weeks. Normal Wistar rats fed with sucrose served as controls. Compared to untreated GK rats, sucrose-fed GK rats showed severe degeneration and death of beta cells with disrupted and swollen mitochondria and a greater beta cell loss. Submicroscopic analysis disclosed a smaller mean volume and a greater number of mitochondria in beta cells in GK rats compared to those in Wistar rats. Mitochondria in sucrose-fed GK rats were 2.4-fold greater in mean volume than those in untreated state. Without sucrose feeding, there was no significant difference in mitochondrial membrane potentials (MmPs) of isolated islets between Wistar and GK rats. MmPs were reduced by 44% in sucrose-fed GK rats but not influenced in sucrose-fed Wistar rats. Current results suggest that nutritional insults like sucrose feeding may exert deleterious effects on mitochondria, resulting in augmented beta cell loss in type 2 diabetes.

Hepatic adaptations to sucrose and fructose

The liver is an important site of postprandial glucose disposal, accounting for the removal of up to 30% of an oral glucose load. The liver is also centrally involved in dietary lipid and amino acid uptake, and the presence of either or both of these nutrients can influence hepatic glucose uptake. The composition of ingested carbohydrate also influences hepatic glucose metabolism. For example, fructose can increase hepatic glucose uptake. In addition, fructose extraction by the liver is exceedingly high, approaching 50% to 70% of fructose delivery. The selective hepatic metabolism of fructose, and the ability of fructose to increase hepatic glucose uptake can, under appropriate conditions (eg, diets enriched in sucrose or fructose, high fructose concentrations), provoke major adaptations in hepatic metabolism. Potential adaptations that can arise in response to these conditions and putative mechanisms driving these adaptations are the subject of this review.

Minimal chronic hyperglycemia is a critical determinant of impaired insulin secretion after an incomplete pancreatectomy

We now describe experiments that allow one to determine the consequences of B cell reduction alone vs. those that result from superimposed mild hyperglycemia. Male CD rats underwent a 60% pancreatectomy (Px); controls were sham operated. 1 wk later, either 10% sucrose (SUC) was substituted as fluid supply or tap water was continued (WAT). Plasma glucose and insulin values in Px-WAT remained equal to the sham groups; in Px-SUC the values were euglycemic for 25 d, but then nonfasting plasma glucose rose 15 mg/dl. After 6 wk, B cell mass in Px-WAT was reduced by 45% and non-B cell mass by 57%. In contrast, in Px-SUC both masses were comparable to the sham groups. The insulin response to 27.7 mM glucose was measured using the in vitro perfused pancreas. The responses were reduced in Px-WAT but in proportion to their reduced B cell mass; in contrast, it was 75% less than expected in Px-SUC. Also, the response to arginine given at 16.7 mM glucose was reduced only in Px-SUC. These results show that a lowering of B cell mass that does not result in hyperglycemia has no adverse effect on the remaining B cells. On the other hand, if even mild hyperglycemia develops, B cell function becomes impaired and results in inappropriately reduced insulin stores and insulin responses to marked stimuli.

Effect of high sucrose diet on insulin secretion and insulin action: a study in the normal rat

The effects of chronic high sucrose feeding for 1 month on in vivo and in vitro insulin secretion and on in vivo insulin action were studied in normal male rats. As compared to the standard chow diet, the high sucrose diet induced excess in vivo insulin response to an intravenous glucose load; the high sucrose diet also slightly improved glucose tolerance, as demonstrated by significantly higher rate of glucose disappearance (p less than 0.02). The increased insulin secretion in response to glucose in vivo seems to be related to an hyper-reactivity of the pancreatic B cell to glucose, since it was still observed in vitro with the isolated perfused pancrease preparation. By contrast, B cells of sucrose-fed rats exhibited in vitro a normal response to arginine and a significantly lowered (p less than 0.05) response to acetylcholine. The insulin action in the sucrose-fed rats was quantified in vivo with the insulin-glucose clamp technique. The effects of different concentrations of insulin on glucose production and glucose utilization were studied in anaesthetized rats while in the postabsorptive state. The basal glucose utilization was found significantly higher (p less than 0.001) in sucrose-fed rats. During the clamp studies the glucose utilization induced by submaximal (400 microU/ml) or maximal (7500 microU/ml) insulin levels was significantly more important (p less than 0.02) in the sucrose-fed rats than in the chow-fed rats. This suggests that insulin-mediated glucose uptake is enhanced over a large range of plasma insulin levels in the sucrose-fed rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)