Reduction of hepatic glucocorticoid receptor and hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase expression ameliorates diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in mice.
Intracellular glucocorticoid (GC) receptor (GR) function determines tissue sensitivity to GCs and strongly affects the development of type 2 diabetes and obesity. 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) mediates intracellular steroid exposure to mouse liver GR by prereceptor reactivation of GCs and is crucially dependent on hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6PDH)-generating NADPH system. Pharmacological inhibition of 11beta-HSD1 improves insulin intolerance and obesity. Here, we evaluated the potential beneficial effects of 11beta-HSD1 inhibitor carbenoxolone (CBX) in diet-induced obese (DIO) and insulin-resistant mice by examining the possible influence of CBX on the expression of GR, 11beta-HSD1, and H6PDH in vivo and in vitro in hepatocytes. Treatment of DIO mice with CBX markedly reduced hepatic GR mRNA levels and reduced weight gain, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance. The reduction of hepatic GR gene expression was accompanied by CBX-induced inhibition of both 11beta-HSD1 and H6PDH activity and mRNA in the liver. Moreover, CBX treatment also suppressed the expression of both phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase enzyme (G6Pase) mRNA and improved hepatic [1, 2-(3)H] deoxy-d-glucose uptake in DIO mice. In addition, the treatment of primary cultures of hepatocytes with increasing concentrations of CBX led to a dose-dependent downregulation of GR mRNA levels, which correlated with the suppression of both 11beta-HSD1 and H6PDH activity and their gene expression. Addition of CBX to primary hepatocytes also resulted in suppression of both PEPCK and G6Pase mRNA levels. These findings suggest that CBX exerts some of its beneficial effects, at least in part, by inhibiting hepatic GR and H6PDH expression.
Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, The Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, 1731 East 120th Street, Los Angeles, California 90059, USA. dryanjunliu@hotmail.com
Yanjun
Y
Liu
Yuichi
Y
Nakagawa
Ying
Y
Wang
Limei
L
Liu
Hongwei
H
Du
Wei
W
Wang
Xiuhai
X
Ren
Kabirullah
K
Lutfy
Theodore C
TC
Friedman
D043205:11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002229:Carbenoxolone / Q000494:pharmacology; D002237:Carbohydrate Dehydrogenases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D003847:Deoxyglucose / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000187:drug effects; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology
D001786:Blood Glucose; D004041:Dietary Fats; D007328:Insulin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid; D003847:Deoxyglucose; D002237:Carbohydrate Dehydrogenases; C020552:galactose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase; D043205:11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1; D002229:Carbenoxolone; D003345:Corticosterone