Impaired IRS-1/PI3-kinase signaling in patients with HCV: a mechanism for increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes.
Patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the mechanism of this association is unclear. In this study, we examined the potential defects in upstream insulin signaling pathways in liver specimens obtained from nonobese/nondiabetic subjects with HCV infection. Fasting liver biopsy specimens were obtained from 42 HCV-infected subjects and 10 non-HCV-infected subjects matched for age and body mass index. Liver tissues were exposed to insulin and examined for the contents and phosphorylation/activation status of the upstream insulin signaling molecules by immunoprecipitation and Western blot analysis. HCV infection resulted in a trend toward a 2-fold to 3-fold increase in insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 contents when compared with non-HCV. In contrast, insulin-stimulated IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation was decreased by 2-fold in HCV-infected subjects compared with non-HCV-infected subjects (P <.05). The observed reductions in IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation were accompanied by a 3.4-fold decrease in IRS-1/p85 phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) association and a 2.5-fold decrease in IRS-1-associated PI3-kinase enzymatic activity (P <.05 vs. non-HCV). This was accompanied by a marked reduction in insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation without any alterations in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation. Cellular contents of the hepatic p85 subunit of PI3-kinase were comparable between HCV-infected and non-HCV-infected subjects. In conclusion, we found that (1). HCV infection leads to a postreceptor defect in IRS-1 association with the IR and (2). insulin signaling defects in hepatic IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation and PI3-kinase association/activation may contribute to insulin resistance, which leads to the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients with HCV infection.
Aytug
Serhat
S
Diabetes Research Laboratory, Division of Endocrinology, Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, NY 11501, USA.
Reich
David
D
Sapiro
Lawrence E
LE
Bernstein
David
D
Begum
Najma
N
D000328:Adult; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000494:pharmacology; D055504:Insulin Receptor Substrate Proteins; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000502:physiology*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D015995:Prevalence; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000378:metabolism
D007328:Insulin; D055504:Insulin Receptor Substrate Proteins; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D014443:Tyrosine; C526292:IRS1 protein, human; C494918:AKT1 protein, human