Affect Glucose Regulation Research Articles

Blood Glucose Level, Alcohol Heavy Drinking, and Alcohol Craving During Treatment for Alcohol Dependence: Results From the Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence (COMBINE) Study

Heavy drinking may increase blood glucose levels. Moreover, in alcohol-dependent subjects, glucose may play a putative role in alcohol preference. This study investigated the relationship between blood glucose levels and both alcohol heavy drinking and craving in alcohol-dependent subjects participating in the COMBINE Study. The primary objective was to evaluate the relationship between baseline (pretreatment) glucose levels and percentage of heavy drinking day (PHDD) during treatment. The secondary objective was to evaluate the relationship between glucose levels, baseline PHDD, and craving measured by the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS). This analysis consisted of 1,324 participants. Baseline glucose levels were significantly and positively associated with PHDD during treatment [F(1, 1225) = 5.21, p = 0.023], after controlling for baseline PHDD [F(1, 1225) = 36.25, p < 0.0001], gender [F (1, 1225) = 3.33, p = 0.07], and body mass index (BMI) [F(1, 1225) = 0.31, p = 0.58]. Higher glucose levels at baseline were associated with a higher percentage of PHDD at pretreatment [F(1, 1304) = 5.96, p = 0.015], after controlling for gender [F(1, 1304) = 0.29, p = 0.59] and BMI [F(1, 1304) = 0.90, p = 0.34]. Glucose was not significantly associated with the OCDS total score [F(1, 1304) = 0.12, p = 0.73], the OCDS Obsessive subscale [F(1, 1304) = 0.35, p = 0.56], or the OCDS Compulsive subscale [F(1, 1304) = 1.19, p = 0.28] scores, after controlling for gender and BMI. A link between pretreatment glucose levels and heavy drinking during treatment was found, suggesting a role of glucose in predicting heavy alcohol consumption. Although caution is needed in the interpretation of these results, elevated glucose and heavy drinking may be affected by a common mechanism and manipulations affecting glucose regulation may influence alcohol consumption.

Slow-wave sleep and the risk of type 2 diabetes in humans.

There is convincing evidence that, in humans, discrete sleep stages are important for daytime brain function, but whether any particular sleep stage has functional significance for the rest of the body is not known. Deep non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep (SWS), is thought to be the most "restorative" sleep stage, but beneficial effects of SWS for physical well being have not been demonstrated. The initiation of SWS coincides with hormonal changes that affect glucose regulation, suggesting that SWS may be important for normal glucose tolerance. If this were so, selective suppression of SWS should adversely affect glucose homeostasis and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. Here we show that, in young healthy adults, all-night selective suppression of SWS, without any change in total sleep time, results in marked decreases in insulin sensitivity without adequate compensatory increase in insulin release, leading to reduced glucose tolerance and increased diabetes risk. SWS suppression reduced delta spectral power, the dominant EEG frequency range in SWS, and left other EEG frequency bands unchanged. Importantly, the magnitude of the decrease in insulin sensitivity was strongly correlated with the magnitude of the reduction in SWS. These findings demonstrate a clear role for SWS in the maintenance of normal glucose homeostasis. Furthermore, our data suggest that reduced sleep quality with low levels of SWS, as occurs in aging and in many obese individuals, may contribute to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Does hyperoxia affect glucose regulation and transport in the newborn?

Objective Hyperglycemia has been found to occur in children placed on cardiopulmonary bypass. Our laboratory demonstrated that hyperoxia plays a role in this hyperglycemic response and also occurs in the absence of cardiopulmonary bypass. The purpose of this study was to elucidate potential mechanisms underlying the hyperoxic-induced hyperglycemia by examining glucagon, insulin, and epinephrine, which are important in glucose regulation and skeletal and cardiac glucose transporters (GLUT1 and GLUT4), which facilitate glucose entry. Methods Three-day-old piglets were anesthetized, intubated, and ventilated to normoxia. Animals were then randomly allocated to either 5 hours of normoxia (n = 4) or hyperoxia (n = 6). Measurements of oxygen, blood glucose, plasma glucagon, insulin, and epinephrine levels were made. Total GLUT1 and GLUT4 content in cardiac and skeletal muscle was measured using Western blotting analysis. Results A sustained hyperglycemic response ( P < .001) was seen throughout the 5-hour ventilatory period. A significant twofold elevation in glucagon levels ( P < .001) and a threefold elevation ( P < .003) in plasma insulin levels occurred, despite no significant changes in plasma epinephrine. Total GLUT1 and GLUT4 content were significantly reduced in skeletal muscle by 66% and 59%, respectively, while no significant changes occurred in cardiac muscle. Conclusion This study demonstrates that significant elevations in glucagon and insulin and reductions in total skeletal muscle GLUT1 and GLUT4 content all contribute to hyperoxia-induced hyperglycemia seen in newborns. To optimize postoperative recovery of newborns, consideration should be given to the levels of oxygen used to avoid the potential development of insulin resistance and subsequent decrease in glucose entry.