title: Endogenous epinephrine protects against obesity induced insulin resistance.
abstract: Epinephrine (E) is a hormone released from the adrenal medulla in response to low blood sugar and other stresses. E and related β2-adrenergic agonists are used to treat asthma, but a side effect is high blood sugar. C57BL/6 mice prone to overfeeding induced type II diabetes had the PNMT gene knocked out to prevent E synthesis. These E deficient mice were very similar to control animals on a 14% fat diet. On a 40.6% fat diet they gained 20 to 33% more weight than control animals and increased their blood glucose response to a glucose tolerance test because they became resistant to insulin. Although the short term effect of β2-agonists such as E is to raise blood glucose, some long acting β2-agonists improve muscle glucose uptake. Endogenous E protects against overfeeding induced diabetes. Since adrenal E release can be impaired with aging and diabetes, endogenous E may help prevent adult onset diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0838, United States. mziegler@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: Milos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milic
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Chih-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Hamzeh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Elayan
authors.forename: Xuping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Wai Wilson
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: O'Connor
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000494:pharmacology; D004435:Eating; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010625:Phenylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D004041:Dietary Fats; D007328:Insulin; D010625:Phenylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase; D004837:Epinephrine