Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 Therapy Improves Liver Fibrosis and Glycemic Control in Diabetic Mice With Fatty Liver.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease and is frequently associated with type 2 diabetes. However, there is no specific medical therapy to treat this condition. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) of the protective renin angiotensin system generates the antifibrotic peptide angiotensin-(1-7) from profibrotic angiotensin II peptide.

Contribution of Intronic miR-338-3p and Its Hosting Gene AATK to Compensatory β-Cell Mass Expansion.

The elucidation of the mechanisms directing β-cell mass regeneration and maintenance is of interest, because the deficit of β-cell mass contributes to diabetes onset and progression. We previously found that the level of the microRNA (miRNA) miR-338-3p is decreased in pancreatic islets from rodent models displaying insulin resistance and compensatory β-cell mass expansion, including pregnant rats, diet-induced obese mice, and db/db mice. Transfection of rat islet cells with oligonucleotides that specifically block miR-338-3p activity increased the fraction of proliferating β-cells in vitro and promoted survival under proapoptotic conditions without affecting the capacity of β-cells to release insulin in response to glucose.

NPY signalling in early osteoblasts controls glucose homeostasis.

Objective: The skeleton has recently emerged as an additional player in the control of whole-body glucose metabolism; however, the mechanism behind this is not clear.

Methods: Here we employ mice lacking neuropeptide Y, Y1 receptors solely in cells of the early osteoblastic lineage (Y1f3.6Cre), to examine the role of osteoblastic Y1 signalling in glycaemic control.

MicroRNAs contribute to compensatory β cell expansion during pregnancy and obesity.

Pregnancy and obesity are frequently associated with diminished insulin sensitivity, which is normally compensated for by an expansion of the functional β cell mass that prevents chronic hyperglycemia and development of diabetes mellitus. The molecular basis underlying compensatory β cell mass expansion is largely unknown. We found in rodents that β cell mass expansion during pregnancy and obesity is associated with changes in the expression of several islet microRNAs, including miR-338-3p.

Low serum PYY is linked to insulin resistance in first-degree relatives of subjects with type 2 diabetes.

Low circulating peptide YY (PYY) levels are reported in obese and type II diabetic subjects and results from PYY knockout animals suggests that PYY deficiency may have a causative role in the etiology of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Here, our aims were to determine whether people with a genetic predisposition to developing type 2 diabetes and obesity differ from otherwise similar subjects without such family history, in fasting or meal-related PYY levels, fasting insulin, insulin secretion (HOMA-B) and insulin sensitivity. We also investigated whether PYY ablation affects the intrinsic ability of islets to secrete insulin, which may be a contributing factor to the hyperinsulinemia observed in PYY knockout mice.