help button home button Endocrine Society Endocrinology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS

This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Copyright Permission
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zong-Chao, L.
Right arrow Articles by Khan, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zong-Chao, L.
Right arrow Articles by Khan, A.
Endocrinology Vol. 139, No. 6 2670-2675
Copyright © 1998 by The Endocrine Society


ARTICLES

Glucose Metabolism in Goto-Kakizaki Rat Islets1

Ling Zong-Chao, Suad Efendic, Rolf Wibom, Samy M. Abdel-Halim, Claes-Göran Östenson, Bernard R. Landau and Akhtar Khan

Department of Molecular Medicine, Endocrine and Diabetes Unit, Rolf Luft Center for Diabetes Research, Karolinska Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm; and the Department of Clinical Chemistry, Huddinge University Hospital, S-141 86 Huddinge, Sweden; and the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Islets from Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats from our colony, despite marked impairment of glucose-induced insulin release, used glucose and produced CO2 at a rate 3 times that of islets from control Wistar rats. Almost all glucose used was accounted for in CO2 and lactate production. The percentages of glucose carbon used collected in CO2 and lactate were similar for control and GK islets. GK islets also oxidized 40% more acetate and leucine to CO2 than did control islets. The fraction of carbon leaving the Krebs cycle relative to CO2 production was the same in GK and control islets. The capacities of mitochondria from GK islets to generate ATP from glutamate and malate were similar and that to generate ATP from succinate and rotenone was somewhat less from GK islets. The reason for the enhanced utilization of substrates by islets of the GK rat is not apparent. In conclusion, there is no decrease in islet glucose utilization, glucose oxidation, Krebs cycle function, or the electron transport system evident from these measurements to explain the impaired insulin release in islets from GK rats.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
NONINSULIN-DEPENDENT diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) has a hereditary basis. It is expressed through impaired insulin release and/or decreased hepatic and extrahepatic insulin sensitivity (1, 2). The spontaneously diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat is an animal model of NIDDM and is characterized by a deficient insulin response to glucose (3, 4).

The mechanisms behind the coupling of glucose stimulus to the insulin secretory process in NIDDM are not clear. Whether the impaired insulin release is due to impaired secretory capacity, altered stimulus-secretion coupling, or both is unknown. Also unknown is to what extent this deficient insulin response reflects changes in islet glucose metabolism. Islets from the GK rat have been reported to have either normal or markedly increased utilization of glucose (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11). The amount of glucose converted to CO2 by the GK islet has been reported to be reduced from normal relative to glucose utilization (5, 8, 9, 10, 11). If glucose utilization is normal or increased, then relatively more of the carbon of the glucose used in the GK than in the normal islet must be converted to a product other than CO2. As the glycerophosphate dehydrogenase shuttle, a means of transferring NADH generated in glycolysis into the mitochondrion, has been reported to be reduced in the GK rat (12), we examined the possibility that the product might be lactate.

Pyruvate’s role, as a sink for that NADH, could then also result in a loss of that energy source and, hence, in a relative decrease in CO2 production. As most of the oxidation of glucose to CO2 occurs in the Krebs cycle, another possibility to explain the decreased oxidation to utilization ratio in the GK rat islets could be an increased exit of carbon entering the cycle to other than CO2. Therefore, another purpose of the study was to assess the fate of the carbons of acetate and leucine, compounds oxidized in the cycle. The capacity of mitochondria to produce ATP was also examined.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Radiochemicals
[U-14C]Glucose (251 mCi/mmol) and [5-3H]glucose (15.7 Ci/mmol), reported to be radiochemically more than 98% pure, were purchased from DuPont-New England Nuclear (Boston, MA). By HPLC, on an Aminex HPX-87P column (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA) with water as a solvent at 85 C, the mixture of [14C]- and [3H]glucose gave two peaks, one with the mobility of glucose and the other with less than 1% as much of 3H and 14C. The glucose peak was collected, aliquoted into vials, and freeze-dried for use in the incubations. [1-14C]Acetate (56.8 mCi/mmol) and [2-14C]acetate (56.0 mCi/mmol) were also purchased from DuPont-New England Nuclear. [1-14C]Leucine (57 mCi/mmol) was purchased from Amersham (Aylesbury, UK), and [2-14C]leucine (53.3 mCi/mmol) was obtained from Research Products International Corp. (Mount Prospect, IL). They were also reported to be radiochemically more than 98% pure. They were received dissolved in ethanol, which was evaporated before use.

Animals and isolation of islets
Male GK rats between 2–3 months of age were from our colony at the Karolinska Hospital. As control, Wistar rats, matched in age and weight, were purchased from a local breeder (B&K Universal, Sollentuna, Sweden). The GK rat originated by selective inbreeding of Wistar rats (3). There is no prediabetic GK rat available because the rat is hyperglycemic by 1 week of age (13). All rats had free access to food and water. The animals were killed at 0900 h, and blood was collected for the determination of glucose. The pancreata of the animals were removed, cleaned from the fat tissue, and washed in Hanks’ solution. Each pancreas was then cut into small pieces and placed in a scintillation glass bottle with 8 ml Hanks’ solution containing 25 mg collagenase (Boehringer Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany). The tissue was digested at 37 C for 20 min under continuous shaking (150 strokes/min). The suspension was diluted with cold solution and allowed to settle. The sediment was washed twice with cold solution. Islets from the sediment were collected using a glass pipette under stereomicroscopy.

Substrate metabolism
In the first series of experiments, the islets from each of 8 rats from the group of control and GK rats were divided into 5 or 6 batches (25 islets in each batch). Four batches were randomly selected to be incubated with the [3H/14C]glucose, and a fifth batch was used to determine DNA. A sixth batch was also allocated randomly from the islets from 4 of the 8 rats, and the islets in that batch were used to measure insulin release (see below). For the determinations of glucose oxidation and utilization, 25 islets were placed in an incubation vial with either 5.5 or 16.7 mM glucose (in duplicate, hence the use of 4 batches of islets), 0.5% BSA (fraction V), 1 µCi [5-3H]glucose, and 1 µCi [U-14C]glucose in 100 µl Krebs-bicarbonate buffer (pH 7.4). Each vial with its content was placed in a scintillation bottle, sealed, and gassed with O2-CO2 (19:1, vol/vol) for 3 min. After 90-min incubation at 37 C, 100 µl 10% perchloric acid were injected into the vial, and 250 µl hyamine (Packard Instrument Co., Meriden, CT) and 250 µl water were injected into the bottle to absorb 14CO2 and 3H2O. Parallel incubations were performed, but without islets.

14CO2 and 3H2O were collected overnight. The vial with its acidified contents was removed, and scintillation fluid (Ultima Gold, Packard Instrument Co.) was added to the bottle, which was then assayed for the radioactivity in a liquid scintillation spectrophotometer (Packard Tri-Carb 1900 TR liquid scintillation analyzer).

One milligram of sodium L-lactate was added as a carrier to the acidified incubate, which was then centrifuged (3000 x g, 10 min). The supernatant was neutralized with KOH. The precipitated potassium perchlorate was removed by centrifugation. The supernatant was passed through anion exchange resin AG1-X8 (100–200 mesh) in the formate form (Bio-Rad Laboratories). The column was washed until there was no radioactivity in the eluent. Lactic acid was then eluted from the column with 5 ml 0.4 M sodium formate (BDH, Poole, UK) and evaporated to dryness. The residue was dissolved in water and evaporated twice. A water solution of the resulting residue was chromatographed twice using an HPX-87H system. The fraction eluting with the mobility of lactate was assayed for 14C and lactate content using lactate oxidase (model 23A glucose/lactic acid analyzer, Yellow Springs Instrument Co., Yellow Springs, OH).

In the second series of experiments, batches of 20 islets from 5 rats from the group of control Wistar and GK rats were placed in 4 different vials with 5.5 mM glucose, 1 mM acetate, 1 mM leucine, and 0.5% BSA in 100 µl Krebs-bicarbonate buffer. Sodium acetate and L-leucine were purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). The first vial contained [1-14C]acetate, the second contained [2-14C]acetate, the third contained [1-14C]leucine, and the fourth contained [2-14C]leucine, each 1 µCi. Parallel incubations were identically prepared, except without islets. Each vial with its content was placed in a scintillation bottle, sealed, gassed with the O2-CO2 for 3 min, and then also incubated at 37 C for 90 min. One tenth of a milliliter of 10% perchloric acid was injected into each vial, and 1.5 ml CO2-free 1 N NaHCO3 was placed by injection at the bottom of the vial. The vials with their contents were kept at 37 C for 2 h to absorb into the NaOH the CO2 evolved.

The vials were removed, and 2 ml 5% BaCl2 were added to each bottle. The barium carbonate that precipitated was collected by filtration, washed with CO2-free water, dried, and weighed. Weights were about the theoretical yield from 0.5 mmol NaHCO3. The barium carbonate was placed at the bottom of a wide-mouth bottle containing 5 ml water and closed with a rubber stopper from which a scintillation vial containing 2 ml Hyamine was suspended. After evacuating air from the bottle through the stopper, 2 ml 1 N H2SO4 was injected through the stopper into the water. The bottle with its contents was kept at 37 C for 2 h to allow the CO2 evolved from the barium carbonate to be absorbed into the hyamine. Scintillation fluid was then added, and 14C activity was assayed in a scintillation counter.

Thus, in the experiments with [14C]acetate and [14C]leucine, 14CO2 was not collected in hyamine directly as was done for [14C]glucose in this study. This is due to the fact that acetate is volatile and produces large blank values for 14CO2 (14). We eliminated high blanks by collecting CO2 in NaOH and then precipitating it as BaCO3. As sodium acetate and barium acetate are water soluble, [14C]acetate absorbed in the NaOH was removed when the BaCO3 was collected (15).

Insulin release
Groups of three islets (from a batch of 25 islets) were incubated in triplicate for 1 h at 37 C in 300 µl Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer containing 2 mg BSA and 5.5 or 16.7 mM glucose. After incubation, an aliquot of the medium was stored at -70 C for insulin assay. Insulin was measured by RIA with the addition of charcoal to separate free and bound insulin (16).

Mitochondrial ATP production
Mitochondria was prepared from approximately 400 islets of control rats and 300 islets of GK rats using the procedure of Idahl and Lembert (17). They were suspended in 100 µl of a medium containing 250 mM sucrose and 1 mM EDTA, pH 7.5, measured by luminescence using a reagent based on firefly luciferase, and the rate of ATP production was determined in the mitochondrial suspension at a final dilution of 1:1000 (18). ATP production was continuously monitored at 25 C in the presence of ADP, inorganic phosphate, and one of the following substrate combinations: 1) glutamate and malate, 2) N,N,N1,N1-tetramethyl-1,4-phenyldiamine and ascorbate, 3) palmitoyl-L-carnitine and malate, 4) pyruvate and malate, and 5) succinate and rotenone. Rotenone was added to block complex I, i.e. NADH oxidase-ubiquinone reductase complex, and also to prevent the accumulation of oxaloacetate, which inhibits succinate dehydrogenase. As a reference base for the determinations of mitochondrial ATP production rate, mitochondrial enzyme citrate synthase activity was determined (19, 20) in the mitochondrial suspensions and in islet homogenates.

Assay of glucose and DNA
The blood glucose concentration was measured by a glucose oxidase method using the model 23A glucose analyzer. Islet DNA content was assayed using a fluorometric method modified by Hinegardner (21).

Calculations
The 14CO2 and 3H2O formed by the islets was taken as the difference in the 14C in CO2 and the 3H in H2O incubated in the presence and absence of islets. The amounts of 14CO2 and 3H2O formed (picomoles of glucose equivalent) were calculated by dividing the radioactivity (disintegrations per min) in the CO2 and H2O by the specific activity (disintegrations per min/pmol) of [U-14C]glucose and [5-3H]glucose in the medium. The yield of 3H2O was corrected for the recovery of 3H by incubating 3H2O under identical conditions. The specific activity of lactate in disintegrations per min/mg was calculated from the 14C radioactivity and the lactate content in the fraction collected using HPLC. 14C incorporated into lactate was taken as the difference in the presence and absence of islets. The amounts of lactate formed (picomoles) as glucose equivalent were calculated by multiplying the disintegrations per min of 14C in the lactate fraction isolated by HPLC by 1 mg lactate, the amount of lactate that had been added as carrier, and dividing by the amount of lactate in milligrams in the HPLC fraction and the specific radioactivity (disintegrations per min/pmol) of the [U-14C]glucose in the incubate. Yields of 14CO2 from [14C]acetate and [14C]leucine in disintegrations per min were calculated by subtracting the disintegrations per min in CO2 collected in the absence of islets from the disintegrations per min in their presence. Yields of 14CO2 expressed in nanomoles of 14CO2 per ng islet DNA/h of incubation were calculated by multiplying the nanomoles incubated by the yields of 14CO2 in disintegrations per min/h and dividing by the disintegrations per min/h of labeled compound incubated.

ATP production by mitochondria was calculated 1) per nanograms of DNA in the islet homogenate from which the mitochondria were collected, and 2) per unit of citrate synthase activity measured in the same mitochondrial preparation in which ATP production was measured.

A simplified model of Krebs cycle metabolism was used to calculate the fate of acetate carbon in the cycle (22). In the model, acetyl coenzyme A (CoA) condenses with oxaloacetate to form citrate, and then the citrate is oxidized to oxaloacetate via {alpha}-ketoglutarate. The only carbon entering the cycle is from acetate, via acetyl CoA, and from pyruvate, the pyruvate fixing CO2 to form oxaloacetate and the pyruvate being decarboxylated to acetyl CoA. The only products of the cycle, i.e. those exiting the cycle, are CO2 and oxaloacetate or its equivalent, i.e. a dicarboxylic acid of the cycle. Then, (14CO2 from [1-14C]acetate)/(14CO2 from [2-14C]acetate) = (1 - f2)/(1 - f)2, where f is the rate the oxaloacetate equivalents leave the cycle as a fraction of the rate of formation of oxaloacetate in the cycle from citrate and from the fixation of CO2 by pyruvate.

Statistical analyses
Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM. The significance of differences was assessed by Student’s t test for unpaired observations.


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Control and GK rats had similar body weights and DNA content per islet. Nonfasting blood glucose concentrations were higher in GK than in control rats (Table 1Go).


View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Table 1. Body weight, blood glucose concentrations, and islet DNA content in control and GK rats

 
Glucose utilization
D-[5-3H]glucose utilization by islets from GK rats incubated at 5.5 mM glucose was 3.0 times more than that by islets from control rats and 2.7 times as much as that at 16.7 mM glucose (Table 2Go). At 16.7 mM glucose, both control and GK rat islets used about twice as much glucose as at 5.5 mM glucose.


View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Table 2. Glucose metabolism (picomoles per ng DNA/h) in islets from control (n = 8) and GK (n = 8) rats

 
Glucose oxidation
[U-14C]Glucose oxidation by islets from GK rats incubated at 5.5 mM glucose was also 3.0 times more than that by islets from control rats and 2.3 times as much as that at 16.7 mM glucose (P < 0.001; Table 2Go). A 16.7-mM glucose concentration stimulated glucose oxidation 3.1-fold in control islets and 2.3-fold in GK rat islets above that at 5.5 mM glucose. Thus, at both the low or high concentrations of glucose, the paired ratios between [U-14C]glucose oxidation and [5-3H]glucose utilization were similar in islets from GK and control rats.

Lactic acid
The conversion of [14C]glucose to [14C]lactate was significantly less in control islets than in GK rat islets at 5.5 mM glucose (Table 2Go). At 16.7 mM glucose, more 14C from [14C]glucose was incorporated into lactate in both control and GK rat islets, but the incorporation into lactate was significantly greater in GK then in control rat islets. The paired ratios between [14C]lactate production and [5-3H]glucose utilization were similar in control and GK rats at both 5.5 and 16.7 mM glucose. The ratio between the sum of glucose oxidation and lactate production and glucose utilization was not different in control and GK rat islets regardless of the glucose concentration in the incubation medium. Recovery of 14C in CO2 and lactate of 14C in glucose used by the islets ranged from 87–93% in control and GK rat islets at both low and high glucose concentrations.

Insulin release
In control rat islets, glucose-stimulated insulin release was 3.7-fold higher at 16.7 than at 5.5 mM glucose, whereas in GK rat islets the increase was only 1.6-fold (Table 3Go). Compared with control rat islets, in GK rat islets, glucose-induced insulin release was significantly lower at both 5.5 and 16.7 mM glucose.


View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Table 3. Glucose-induced insulin release (microunits per islet/h) from islets of control (n = 4) and GK (n = 4) rats

 
CO2 production from acetate and leucine
The ratio of the 14CO2 yield from [1-14C]acetate to that from [2-14C]acetate (Table 4Go) was the same in control and GK rat islets (mean, 2.94 and 2.83). The ratios of the yield from [1-14C]leucine and [2-14C]leucine were also the same in control and GK rat islets, also about 3.0. However, yields from both acetate and leucine were 40–50% more from the GK than from the control islets.


View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Table 4. Yields (picomoles of 14CO2 per ng islet DNA/h) and ratios of the yields on incubations of islets with 14C-labeled acetate or 14C-labeled leucine in the presence of 5 mM unlabeled glucose, 1 mM acetate, and 1 mM leucine

 
ATP production
GK and control mitochondria gave similar rates of ATP production for all substrates tested, except when incubated with succinate and rotenone (Table 5Go). ATP production from GK rat islets was then significantly less than that from control islets (P < 0.05).


View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Table 5. Rate of ATP production from different substrates by mitochondria isolated from control and GK rat islets

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
The biochemical basis for the defect in insulin secretion was sought through tracings of metabolism. There have been several reports of such tracings, but with differing results. The methods used in the studies to measure glucose utilization and oxidation did not differ.

Compared with islets from control rats of the Wistar strain, glucose utilization by islets from GK rats, measured by 3HOH production from [5-3H]glucose, has been reported to be about the same expressed per protein content (5, 6, 7, 8) or to be increased almost 2- to 3-fold or more (9, 10, 11), as in the present study.2 The increase in glucose utilization was observed in GK rats from the colony in London (10) and our colony (9, 11), whereas little if any change was observed using rats from a colony in Paris (5, 6, 7, 8). Thus, in the London colony, glucose utilization was 0.09 pmol/ng protein·h in control islets and 0.18 pmol/ng protein·h in GK rat islets at 16.7 mM glucose (10). In our recent studies, glucose utilization was 0.14 pmol/ng protein·h in control islets and 0.64 pmol/ng protein·h in GK rat islets at 16.7 mM glucose (11). In contrast, GK rat islets from the Paris colony used 0.27 pmol/ng protein·h glucose, and control islets used 0.33 pmol/ng protein·h glucose at 16.7 mM (8). The reason for these discrepancies is not known. Although all GK rat colonies originated in Japan, our colony differs from Paris colonies also in terms of ß-cell mass and islet insulin content (8, 23, 24). The ratio of the oxidation of 14C-labeled glucose to 14CO2 to glucose utilization has been reported to be about half as much in islets from GK rats as in those from control rats (5, 8, 9, 10), except the decrease in the ratio was less in one study and was not observed when islets were incubated at a low glucose concentration (7). In our study, the ratios of glucose oxidation/glucose utilization, lactate production/glucose utilization, and glucose oxidation and lactate production/glucose utilization were similar in islets from GK and control rats. Thus, utilization, oxidation, and lactate production were about 3-fold increased in the GK islets incubated at 5.5 mM and were 2.5-fold increased at 16.7 mM glucose.

The ratio of the yields of the 14CO2 from [1-14C]acetate and [2-14C]acetate and of that from [1-14C]leucine and [2-14C]leucine were also similar in control and GK rat islets. Both oxidations measure mitochondrial metabolism. A ratio of 3.0 from the labeled acetates using the simplified model of Krebs cycle activity (15, 25), calculates to half the 14C of the [1-14C]acetate and one sixth of the 14C of [2-14C]acetate entering the cycle, exiting the cycle as CO2 and the remaining 14C exiting as a dicarboxylic acid, presumably malate.3 The yield of 14CO2 from [1-14C]leucine measures the decarboxylation of {alpha}-ketoisocaproic acid formed by transamination of the leucine. About one third of carbon 1 of the isovaleryl CoA formed from the {alpha}-ketoisocaproic acid is then oxidized to CO2 via acetyl CoA, as evidenced by the [1-14C]leucine/[2-14C]leucine ratio of 3.0. Ratios of yields of 14CO2 from specifically 14C-labeled glucose can also provide a measure of the oxidation in the Krebs cycle of acetyl units derived from glucose. Those ratios, with a minor exception (5), have also been similar in incubations of islets from control and GK rats. 14CO2 yields from the labeled leucine and acetates were about one and one half times more in GK than in control rat islets.

Oxidation of endogenous glutamine and palmitate, especially at low glucose concentrations, was previously reported to be greater in islets from our colony of GK than in those from control rats (26). The islets of GK and Wistar rats that were used contained similar numbers of cells, as evidenced by DNA content. Our studies have also suggested similar percentages and volumes of ß-cells in islets from control and GK rats (23), so differences between them in utilization and oxidation cannot be ascribed to differences in those islet characteristics. Proinsulin biosynthesis is also similar in control and GK rat islets from our colony (27). Interestingly the expression of glucose transporter (GLUT-2) was shown to be decreased in GK rat islets (28), although glucokinase activity was unchanged (29).

The contribution of non-ß-cells to glucose metabolism in islets is yet to be firmly established. It cannot be excluded that functional alterations in non-ß-cells significantly contributed to increased glucose utilization and lactate production in GK islets. In this context, it is of interest that ß-cells have been found to have several times less lactic dehydrogenase activity than non-ß-cells isolated from islets (30). Also, ßHC-9 cells, cultured cells derived from ß-cells, do not accumulate lactate (31). Glucose utilization in the ß-cell is also severalfold less than that in non-ß-cells (30). In the present study, about 90% of glucose used could be accounted for in the products CO2 and lactate. If utilization (2.5- to 3.0-fold more in the GK than control islets) were coupled to normal processes in energy production, proportionally more ATP would be expected to have been generated in the GK than control islets and in the face of impaired insulin secretion. Due to markedly increased glucose utilization and oxidation, the amount of ATP generated would be expected to far exceed the amount consumed by the increase in glucose cycling we find in GK rat islets (9). Thus, the present findings do not support a relationship between that consumption and the impaired secretion. However, as the cycling is a cytoplasmic process, it could be speculated that cycling decreases the ATP/ADP ratio in that region of the cell that plays an exquisite role in control of the ATP regulated K+ channels and consequently insulin responses. Evidence has been presented that insulin secretion from islets of GK rats is not impaired after the energy-generating steps of metabolism (32), although the effect of glucose on exocytosis is impaired (11).

The present findings might then suggest that the defect in metabolism in the GK rat lies within the process that couples the metabolism of glucose to the production of energy. However, there has been 1) a failure to find deletions or point mutations in mtDNA that directs the synthesis of components of the electron transport system (24), and 2) normal activities of quinone reductase and cytochrome c oxidase in islets from GK rats (33).

Furthermore, we found no significant differences in the capacity of GK mitochondria to generate ATP from substrates entering the electron transport system at complex I. There was a small, but significant, decrease in the capacity to generate ATP from substrates entering via complex II, i.e. succinate and rotenone. It is via complex II that FADH2 is generated in the glycerophosphate dehydrogenase shuttle. This finding is compatible with the previous observation of decreased activity of FAD-linked {alpha}-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase in the GK islets (12), which was normalized by insulin treatment (33).

In conclusion, this has been an effort to elucidate the biochemical site(s) responsible for impaired insulin secretion in the GK rat islets. The main findings is that glucose utilization, oxidation, and lactate production were markedly increased in islets from GK rats. In view of nearly normal function of mitochondria in the GK rat islets, it is difficult to explain these findings. The possibility of an increased turnover of ATP due to altered activity of adenosine triphosphatase and phosphatases remains to be investigated.


    Footnotes
 
Address requests for reprints to: Akhtar Khan, Ph.D., Department of Molecular Medicine, Endocrine and Diabetic Unit, Rolf Luft Center for Diabetes Research, Karolinska Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.

1 This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council (0034), Eli Lilly Co. (Indianapolis, IN), the Swedish Diabetic Association, Karolinska Institutes Research Funds, NIH Grant DK-14507, and Fogarty International Center Senior Fellowship Award TWO1986. Back

2 Islets of GK rats have been reported to have a protein content from as low as 0.59 µg/islet (5 ), 70% the content of islets from control Wistar rats, to as high as 2.1–2.4 µg/islet (7 26 ), 125–140% the content of islets from control Wistar islets. Back

3 When f = 0.5 (see calculations), the ratio of 14CO2 yields is 3.0. Then at steady state, half the amount of oxaloacetate formed experiences a second turn of the cycle. All of the 14C from [1-14C]acetate that condenses via acetyl CoA to form citrate is oxidized to 14CO2 in that second turn. Therefore, 50% of the 14C from [1-14C]acetate entering the cycle is oxidized to 14CO2, and the remainder leaves the cycle as oxaloacetate equivalent. Then, 16.6% of the 14C from [2-14C]entering the cycle is oxidized to 14CO2 (50/16.6 = 3.0), and 83.3% leaves the cycle as oxaloacetate equivalent. Back

Received December 17, 1997.


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

  1. Efendic S, Luft R, Wajngot A 1988 Aspects of the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Endocr Rev 5:395–409[CrossRef][Medline]
  2. DeFronzo RA, Bonadonna RC, Ferrannini E 1992 Pathogenesis of NIDDM. A balanced overview. Diabetes Care 15:317–368
  3. Goto Y, Kakizaki M 1981 The spontaneous-diabetes rat: a model of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Proc Jpn Acad 57:381–384
  4. Kimura K, Toyota T, Kakizaki M, Kudo M, Takeba K, Goto Y 1982 Impaired insulin secretion in the spontaneous diabetes rats. Tohoku J Exp Med 137:453–459[Medline]
  5. Giroix MH, Sener A, Portha B, Malaisse WJ 1993 Preferential alteration of oxidative relative to total glycolysis in pancreatic islets of two rat models of inherited or acquired type-2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes mellitus. Diabetologia 36:305–309[CrossRef][Medline]
  6. Rasschaert J, Giroix MH, Conget I, Mercan D, Leclercq-Meyer V, Sener A, Portha B, Malaisse WJ 1994 Pancreatic islet response to dicarboxylic acid esters in rats with type 2 diabetes: enzymatic, metabolic and secretory aspects. J Mol Endocrinol 13:209–217[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  7. Giroix MH, Sener A, Bailbe D, Leclercq-Meyer V, Portha B, Malaisse WJ 1993 Metabolic, ionic and secretory response to D-glucose in islets from rats with acquired or inherited non-insulin dependent diabetes. Biochem Med Metab Biol 50:301–321[CrossRef][Medline]
  8. Giroix MH, Vesco L, Portha B 1993 Functional and metabolic perturbations in isolated pancreatic islets from the GK rat, a genetic model of non-insulin dependent diabetes. Endocrinology 132:815–822[Abstract]
  9. Östenson C-G, Khan A, Abdel-Halim SM, Guenifi A, Suzuki K, Goto Y, Efendic S 1993 Abnormal insulin secretion and glucose metabolism in pancreatic islets from spontaneously diabetic GK rat. Diabetologia 36:3–8[Medline]
  10. Hughes SJ, Suzuki K, Goto Y 1994 The role of islet secretory function in the development of diabetes in the GK Wistar rat. Diabetologia 37:863–870[Medline]
  11. Abdel-Halim SM, Guenifi A, Khan A, Larsson O, Berggren P-O, Östenson C-G, Efendic S 1996 Impaired coupling of glucose signal to the exocytotic machinery in diabetic GK rats. Diabetes 45:934–940[Abstract]
  12. Östenson C-G, Abdel-Halim SM, Rasschaert J, Malaisse-Lagae F, Meuris S, Sener A, Efendic S, Malaiasse WJ 1993 Deficient activity of FAD-linked glycerophosphate dehydrogenase in islets of GK rats. Diabetologia 36:722–726[CrossRef][Medline]
  13. Abdel-Halim SM, Östenson C-G, Andersson A, Jansson L, Efendic A 1996 A defective stimulus-secretion coupling rather than glucotoxicity mediates the impaired insulin secretion in the mildly diabetic F1 hybrids of GK-Wistar rats. Diabetes 44:1280–1284[Abstract]
  14. MacDonald MJ 1993 Metabolism of the insulin secretagogue methyl succinate by pancreatic islets. Arch Biochem Biophys 300:201–205[CrossRef][Medline]
  15. Khan A, Ling ZC, Landau BR 1996 Quantifying the carboxylation of pyruvate in pancreatic islets. J Biol Chem 271:2539–2542[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  16. Herbert V, Lau KS, Gottlieb CW, Bleicher SJ 1965 Coated charcoal immunoassay of insulin. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 25:1375–1384[Medline]
  17. Idahl L-Å, Lembert N 1995 Glycerol 3-phosphate induced ATP production in intact mitochondria from pancreatic ß-cells. Biochem J 312:287–292
  18. Wibom R, Hultman E 1990 ATP production rate in mitochondria isolated from microsamples of human muscle. Am J Physiol 259:E204–E209
  19. Wibom R, Lundin A, Hultman E 1990 A sensitive method for measuring ATP-formation in rat muscle mitochondria. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 50:143–152[Medline]
  20. Alp P, Newsholme E, Zammit V 1976 Activities of citrate synthase and NAD+-linked and NADP+-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase in muscle from vertebrates and invertebrates. Biochem J 154:689–700[Medline]
  21. Hinegardner RT 1971 An improved fluorometic assay for DNA. Anal Biochem 39:197–201[CrossRef][Medline]
  22. Kelleher JK, Bryan BM 1985 A 14CO2 ratios method for detecting pyruvate carboxylation. Anal Biochem 151:55–62[CrossRef][Medline]
  23. Guenifi A, Abdel-Halim SM, Höög A, Falkmer S, Östenson C-G 1995 Preserved ß-cell density in the endocrine pancreas of young spontaneously diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats. Pancreas 10:148–153[Medline]
  24. Serradas P, Giroix MH, Saulnier C, et al 1995 Mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid content is specifically decreased in adult, but not fetal, pancreatic islets of the Goto-Kakizaki rat, a genetic model of noninsulin-dependent diabetes. Endocrinology 136:5623–5631[Abstract]
  25. MacDonald MJ 1995 Further implication of cytosolic NADPH in insulin secretion. J Biol Chem 270:20051–20058[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  26. Sener A, Malaisse-Lagae F, Östenson C-G, Malaisse WJ 1994 Metabolism of endogenous nutrients in islets of Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats. Biochem J 296:329–334
  27. Hutton JC, Guest PC, Clark A, et al 1994 Proinsulin biosynthesis and processing in the GK rat model of type 2 diabetes. Diabetologia [Suppl 1] 37:A42
  28. Ohneda M, Johnson JH, Inman LR, et al 1993 GLUT2 expression and function in ß-cells of GK rats with NIDDM. Diabetes 42:1065–72[Abstract]
  29. Östenson C-G, Abdel-Halim SM, Anderson A, Efendic S 1996 Studies on the pathogenesis of NIDDM in the GK (Goto-Kakizaki) rat. In: Shafrir E (ed) Lessons from Animal Diabetes. Birkhauser, Boston, pp 299–315
  30. Sekine N, Cirulli V, Regazzi R, et al 1994 Low lactate dehydrogenase and high mitochondrial glycerol phosphate dehydrogenase in pancreatic ß-cells. J Biol Chem 269:4895–4902[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  31. Matschinsky FM 1996 A lesson in metabolic regulation inspired by the glucokinase glucose sensor paradigm. Diabetes 45:223–241[Abstract]
  32. Katayama N, Hughes, SJ, Persaud, SJ, Jones PM, Howell SL 1995 Insulin secretion from islets of GK rats is not impaired after energy generating steps. Mol Cell Endocrinol 111:125–128[CrossRef][Medline]
  33. MacDonald MJ, Efendic S, Östenson C-G 1996 Normalization by insulin treatment of low mitochondrial glycerol phosphate dehydrogenase and pyruvate carboxylase in pancreatic islets of the GK rat. Diabetes 45:886–890[Abstract]



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
GlycobiologyHome page
Y. Akimoto, G. W. Hart, L. Wells, K. Vosseller, K. Yamamoto, E. Munetomo, M. Ohara-Imaizumi, C. Nishiwaki, S. Nagamatsu, H. Hirano, et al.
Elevation of the post-translational modification of proteins by O-linked N-acetylglucosamine leads to deterioration of the glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in the pancreas of diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats
Glycobiology, February 1, 2007; 17(2): 127 - 140.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DiabetesHome page
C.-G. Ostenson, H. Gaisano, L. Sheu, A. Tibell, and T. Bartfai
Impaired Gene and Protein Expression of Exocytotic Soluble N-Ethylmaleimide Attachment Protein Receptor Complex Proteins in Pancreatic Islets of Type 2 Diabetic Patients
Diabetes, February 1, 2006; 55(2): 435 - 440.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
EndocrinologyHome page
H. Mosen, A. Salehi, P. Alm, R. Henningsson, J. Jimenez-Feltstrom, C.-G. Ostenson, S. Efendic, and I. Lundquist
Defective Glucose-Stimulated Insulin Release in the Diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) Rat Coincides with Reduced Activity of the Islet Carbon Monoxide Signaling Pathway
Endocrinology, March 1, 2005; 146(3): 1553 - 1558.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J EndocrinolHome page
A. M Svensson, C.-G. Ostenson, B. Bodin, and L. Jansson
Lack of compensatory increase in islet blood flow and islet mass in GK rats following 60% partial pancreatectomy
J. Endocrinol., February 1, 2005; 184(2): 319 - 327.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol.Home page
K. R. Short, B. Drew, and C. Leeuwenburgh
Mitochondrial ATP measurements
Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, July 1, 2004; 287(1): R243 - R246.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
EndocrinologyHome page
H. Y. Gaisano, C.-G. Ostenson, L. Sheu, M. B. Wheeler, and S. Efendic
Abnormal Expression of Pancreatic Islet Exocytotic Soluble N-Ethylmaleimide-Sensitive Factor Attachment Protein Receptors in Goto-Kakizaki Rats Is Partially Restored by Phlorizin Treatment and Accentuated by High Glucose Treatment
Endocrinology, November 1, 2002; 143(11): 4218 - 4226.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab.Home page
A. M. Efanov, I. B. Appelskog, S. M. Abdel-Halim, A. Khan, R. Branstrom, O. Larsson, C.-G. Ostenson, H.-J. Mest, P.-O. Berggren, S. Efendic, et al.
Insulinotropic activity of the imidazoline derivative RX871024 in the diabetic GK rat
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, January 1, 2002; 282(1): E117 - E124.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DiabetesHome page
J.-M. Lin, H. Ortsater, H. Fakhrai-Rad, J. Galli, H. Luthman, and P. Bergsten
Phenotyping of Individual Pancreatic Islets Locates Genetic Defects in Stimulus Secretion Coupling to Niddm1i Within the Major Diabetes Locus in GK Rats
Diabetes, December 1, 2001; 50(12): 2737 - 2743.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DiabetesHome page
R. Nesher, N. Warwar, A. Khan, S. Efendic, E. Cerasi, and N. Kaiser
Defective Stimulus-Secretion Coupling in Islets of Psammomys obesus, an Animal Model for Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes, February 1, 2001; 50(2): 308 - 314.
[Abstract] [Full Text]


Home page
Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab.Home page
A. M. Svensson, C.-G. Ostenson, and L. Jansson
Age-induced changes in pancreatic islet blood flow: evidence for an impaired regulation in diabetic GK rats
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, November 1, 2000; 279(5): E1139 - E1144.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab.Home page
K. Minami, H. Yano, T. Miki, K. Nagashima, C.-Z. Wang, H. Tanaka, J.-I. Miyazaki, and S. Seino
Insulin secretion and differential gene expression in glucose-responsive and -unresponsive MIN6 sublines
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, October 1, 2000; 279(4): E773 - E781.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Copyright Permission
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zong-Chao, L.
Right arrow Articles by Khan, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zong-Chao, L.
Right arrow Articles by Khan, A.


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Endocrinology Endocrine Reviews J. Clin. End. & Metab.
Molecular Endocrinology Recent Prog. Horm. Res. All Endocrine Journals