Mu J, Jiang G, Brady E, Dallas-Yang Q, Liu F, Woods J, Zycband E, Wright M, Li Z, Lu K, Zhu L, Shen X, Sinharoy R, Candelore ML, Qureshi SA, Shen DM, Zhang F, Parmee ER, Zhang BB. Chronic treatment with a glucagon receptor antagonist lowers glucose and moderately raises circulating glucagon and glucagon-like peptide 1 without severe alpha cell hypertrophy in diet-induced obese mice.
Diabetologia 2011;
54:2381-91. [PMID:
21695571 DOI:
10.1007/s00125-011-2217-2]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2011] [Accepted: 05/03/2011] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
AIMS/HYPOTHESIS
Antagonism of the glucagon receptor (GCGR) represents a potential approach for treating diabetes. Cpd-A, a potent and selective GCGR antagonist (GRA) was studied in preclinical models to assess its effects on alpha cells.
METHODS
Studies were conducted with Cpd-A to examine the effects on glucose-lowering efficacy, its effects in combination with a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, and the extent and reversibility of alpha cell hypertrophy associated with GCGR antagonism in mouse models.
RESULTS
Chronic treatment with Cpd-A resulted in effective and sustained glucose lowering in mouse models in which endogenous murine Gcgr was replaced with human GCGR (hGCGR). Treatment with Cpd-A also led to stable, moderate elevations in both glucagon and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) levels, which were completely reversible and not associated with a hyperglycaemic overshoot following termination of treatment. When combined with a DPP-4 inhibitor, Cpd-A led to additional improvement of glycaemic control correlated with elevated active GLP-1 levels after glucose challenge. In contrast to Gcgr-knockout mice in which alpha cell hypertrophy was detected, chronic treatment with Cpd-A in obese hGCGR mice did not result in gross morphological changes in pancreatic tissue.
CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION
A GRA lowered glucose effectively in diabetic models without significant alpha cell hypertrophy during or following chronic treatment. Treatment with a GRA may represent an effective approach for glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes, which could be further enhanced when combined with DPP-4 inhibitors.
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