Abstract
Obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes contribute to increased morbidity and mortality in humans. The db/db mouse is an important mouse model that displays many key features of the human disease. Herein, we used the drug pioglitazone, a thiazolidinedione with insulin-sensitizing properties, to investigate blood glucose levels, indicators of islet β-cell health and maturity, and gene expression in adipose tissue. Oral administration of pioglitazone lowered blood glucose levels in db/db mice with a corresponding increase in respiratory quotient, which indicates improved whole-body carbohydrate utilization. In addition, white adipose tissue from db/db mice and from humans treated with pioglitazone showed increased expression of glycerol kinase. Both db/db mice and humans given pioglitazone displayed increased expression of UCP-1, a marker typically associated with brown adipose tissue. Moreover, pancreatic β-cells from db/db mice treated with pioglitazone had greater expression of insulin and Nkx6.1 as well as reduced abundance of the de-differentiation marker Aldh1a3. Collectively, these findings indicate that four weeks of pioglitazone therapy improved overall metabolic health in db/db mice. Our data are consistent with published reports of human subjects administered pioglitazone and with analysis of human adipose tissue taken from subjects treated with pioglitazone. In conclusion, the current study provides evidence that pioglitazone restores key markers of metabolic health and also showcases the utility of the db/db mouse to understand mechanisms associated with human metabolic disease and interventions that provide therapeutic benefit.
Highlights
Obesity and insulin resistance are predictors of the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D) [1,2,3]
We observed that oral delivery of the TZD pioglitazone (PIO), an insulin-sensitizer prescribed to patients with prediabetes or existing T2D [11,27,28], counteracted these pathological metabolic outcomes
The benefits of pioglitazone are through insulin sensitization, improved lipid metabolism, and regulation of inflammation [40,41]
Summary
Obesity and insulin resistance are predictors of the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D) [1,2,3]. The progression to T2D requires the loss of islet β-cell mass, function, or both [4,5,6]. Strategies to protect total islet β-cell mass, insulin production, and insulin secretion are sought to prevent onset of such metabolic diseases. Biomedicines 2021, 9, 1189 pharmacological and lifestyle interventions can be successful at preventing or restoring metabolic tissue function to combat onset of hyperglycemia, a critical defining feature of. Lifestyle interventions typically target weight reduction, leading to decreases in tissue lipid content that restore organ function [7,9]. Weight reduction is not typically required for the therapeutic effects of many pharmaceutical approaches, such as administration of metformin or thiazolidinediones (TZDs)
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