Type 2 diabetes is preceded by a defective insulin response, yet our knowledge of the precise mechanisms is incomplete. Here, we investigate how insulin resistance alters skeletal muscle signaling and how exercise partially counteracts this effect. We measured parallel phenotypes and phosphoproteomes of insulin-resistant (IR) and insulin-sensitive (IS) men as they responded to exercise and insulin (n = 19, 114 biopsies), quantifying over 12,000 phosphopeptides in each biopsy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDecline in mitochondrial function is linked to decreased muscle mass and strength in conditions like sarcopenia and type 2 diabetes. Despite therapeutic opportunities, there is limited and equivocal data regarding molecular cues controlling muscle mitochondrial plasticity. Here we uncovered that the mitochondrial mRNA-stabilizing protein SLIRP, in complex with LRPPRC, is a PGC-1α target that regulates mitochondrial structure, respiration, and mtDNA-encoded-mRNA pools in skeletal muscle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the Greenlandic Inuit population, 4% are homozygous carriers of a genetic nonsense TBC1D4 p.Arg684Ter variant leading to loss of the muscle-specific isoform of TBC1D4 and an approximately tenfold increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Here we show the metabolic consequences of this variant in four female and four male homozygous carriers and matched controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrowth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a member of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily. Despite its identification over 20 years ago, the functions of GDF15 remain complex and not fully elucidated. Its concentration in plasma varies widely depending on the physiological and pathophysiological state of the organism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Endocrinol Metab
January 2025
Several health-beneficial effects are associated with intake of medium-chain triacylglycerol (MCT); however, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Furthermore, it remains uncertain whether the acute metabolic effects of MCT differ between lean individuals and individuals with obesity-and whether these effects are sustained following chronic intake. This study aimed to elucidate the postprandial physiological and metabolic effects of MCT before and after 8 days intake compared with intake of energy-matched triacylglycerol consisting of long-chain fatty acids (long-chain triacylglycerols, LCT) using a randomized cross-over design in lean individuals ( = 8) and individuals with obesity ( = 8).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Housing temperature is a critical regulator of mouse metabolism and thermoneutral housing can improve model translation to humans. However, the impact of housing temperature on the ability of wheel running exercise training to rescue the detrimental effect of diet-induced obese mice is currently not fully understood.
Objective: To investigate how housing temperature affects muscle metabolism in obese mice with regard to calcium handling and exercise training (ET) adaptations in skeletal muscle, and benefits of ET on adiposity and glucometabolic parameters.
Women typically have less muscle mass and more fat mass than men, while at the same time possessing similar or even greater whole-body insulin sensitivity. Our study aimed to investigate the molecular factors in primarily adipose tissue, but also in skeletal muscle, contributing to this sex difference. In healthy, moderately active premenopausal women and men with normal weight (28 ± 5 and 23 ± 3 years old; BMI 22.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Clin Nutr
August 2024
Background: Intrahepatic triacylglycerol (liver TG) content is associated with hepatic insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. Liver TG content can be modulated within days under hypocaloric conditions.
Objectives: We hypothesized that 4 d of eucaloric low-carbohydrate/high-fat (LC) intake would decrease liver TG content, whereas a high-carbohydrate/low-fat (HC) intake would increase liver TG content, and further that alterations in liver TG would be linked to dynamic changes in hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism.
Aims/hypothesis: Exercise has a profound effect on insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle. The euglycaemic-hyperinsulinaemic clamp (EHC) is the gold standard for assessment of insulin sensitivity but it does not reflect the hyperglycaemia that occurs after eating a meal. In previous EHC investigations, it has been shown that the interstitial glucose concentration in muscle is decreased to a larger extent in previously exercised muscle than in rested muscle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsulin resistance is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and exercise can improve insulin sensitivity. However, following exercise, high circulating fatty acid (FA) levels might counteract this. We hypothesized that such inhibition would be reduced by forcibly increasing carbohydrate oxidation through pharmacological activation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlucose is the universal fuel of most mammalian cells, and it is largely replenished through dietary intake. Glucose availability to tissues is paramount for the maintenance of homeostatic energetics and, hence, supply should match demand by the consuming organs. In its journey through the body, glucose encounters cellular barriers for transit at the levels of the absorbing intestinal epithelial wall, the renal epithelium mediating glucose reabsorption, and the tight capillary endothelia (especially in the brain).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Metabolic effects of empagliflozin treatment include lowered glucose and insulin concentrations, elevated free fatty acids and ketone bodies and have been suggested to contribute to the cardiovascular benefits of empagliflozin treatment, possibly through an improved cardiac function. We aimed to evaluate the influence of these metabolic changes on cardiac function in patients with T2D.
Methods: In a randomized cross-over design, the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin (E) was compared with insulin (I) treatment titrated to the same level of glycemic control in 17 patients with type 2 diabetes, BMI of > 28 kg/m, C-peptide > 500 pM.
Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are growing health challenges with unmet treatment needs. Traf2- and NCK-interacting protein kinase (TNIK) is a recently identified obesity- and T2D-associated gene with unknown functions. We show that TNIK governs lipid and glucose homeostasis in and mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrowth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) induces weight loss and increases insulin action in obese rodents. Whether and how GDF15 improves insulin action without weight loss is unknown. Obese rats were treated with GDF15 and displayed increased insulin tolerance 5 h later.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Insulin resistance is a critical cause of metabolic dysfunctions. Metabolic dysfunction is common in patients with cancer and is associated with higher cancer recurrence rates and reduced overall survival. Yet, insulin resistance is rarely considered in the clinic and thus it is uncertain how frequently this condition occurs in patients with cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExercise profoundly influences glycemic control by enhancing muscle insulin sensitivity, thus promoting glucometabolic health. While prior glycogen breakdown so far has been deemed integral for muscle insulin sensitivity to be potentiated by exercise, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain enigmatic. We have combined original data from 13 of our studies that investigated insulin action in skeletal muscle either under rested conditions or following a bout of one-legged knee extensor exercise in healthy young male individuals (n = 106).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterised by elevated plasma glucose, free fatty acid (FFA) and insulin concentrations, and this metabolic profile is linked to diabetic cardiomyopathy, a diastolic dysfunction at first and increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Shifting cardiac metabolism towards glucose utilisation has been suggested to improve cardiovascular function and CVD risk, but insulin treatment increases overall glucose oxidation and lowers lipid oxidation, without reducing CVD risk, whereas SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) increase FFA, ketone body concentrations and lipid oxidation, while decreasing insulin concentrations and CVD risk. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the importance of different metabolic profiles obtained during treatment with a SGLT2i versus insulin for myocardial function in patients with T2D.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExercise induces signaling networks to improve muscle function and confer health benefits. To identify divergent and common signaling networks during and after different exercise modalities, we performed a phosphoproteomic analysis of human skeletal muscle from a cross-over intervention of endurance, sprint, and resistance exercise. This identified 5,486 phosphosites regulated during or after at least one type of exercise modality and only 420 core phosphosites common to all exercise.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExercise confers protection against obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate the metabolic benefits of physical activity remain unclear. Here we show that exercise stimulates the production of N-lactoyl-phenylalanine (Lac-Phe), a blood-borne signalling metabolite that suppresses feeding and obesity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActivation of the sympathetic nervous system causes pronounced metabolic changes that are mediated by multiple adrenergic receptor subtypes. Systemic treatment with βadrenergic receptor agonists results in multiple beneficial metabolic effects, including improved glucose homeostasis. To elucidate the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms, we chronically treated wild-type mice and several newly developed mutant mouse strains with clenbuterol, a selective β-adrenergic receptor agonist.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn mice, exercise is suggested to activate the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) in skeletal muscle, and mTORC2 is required for normal muscle glucose uptake during exercise. Whether this translates to human skeletal muscle and what signaling pathways facilitate the exercise-induced mTORC2 activation is unknown. We herein tested the hypothesis that exercise increases mTORC2 activity in human skeletal muscle and investigated if β-adrenergic receptor (AR) activation mediates exercise-induced mTORC2 activation.
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