title: Balancing needs and means: the dilemma of the beta-cell in the modern world.
abstract: The insulin resistance of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), although important for its pathophysiology, is not sufficient to establish the disease unless major deficiency of beta-cell function coexists. This is demonstrated by the fact that near-physiological administration of insulin (CSII) achieved excellent blood glucose control with doses similar to those used in insulin-deficient type 1 diabetics. The normal beta-cell adapts well to the demands of insulin resistance. Also in hyperglycaemic states some degree of adaptation does exist and helps limit the severity of disease. We demonstrate here that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) system might play an important role in this adaptation, because blocking mTORC1 (complex 1) by rapamycin in the nutritional diabetes model Psammomys obesus caused severe impairment of beta-cell function, increased beta-cell apoptosis and progression of diabetes. On the other hand, under exposure to high glucose and FFA (gluco-lipotoxicity), blocking mTORC1 in vitro reduced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and beta-cell death. Thus, according to the conditions of stress, mTOR may have beneficial or deleterious effects on the beta-cell. beta-Cell function in man can be reduced without T2DM/impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Prospective studies have shown subjects with reduced insulin response to present, several decades later, an increased incidence of IGT/T2DM. From these and other studies we conclude that T2DM develops on the grounds of beta-cells whose adaptation capacity to increased nutrient intake and/or insulin resistance is in the lower end of the normal variation. Inborn and acquired factors that limit beta-cell function are diabetogenic only in a nutritional/metabolic environment that requires high functional capabilities from the beta-cell.
authors.affiliation: The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical Centre, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leibowitz
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cerasi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005849:Gerbillinae; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000076222:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D011506:Proteins / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000494:pharmacology*; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
chemical_list: D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D011506:Proteins; D000076222:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; D020123:Sirolimus