Insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus and associated hyperinsulinaemia can promote the development of a specific form of cardiomyopathy that is independent of coronary artery disease and ...hypertension. Termed diabetic cardiomyopathy, this form of cardiomyopathy is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developed nations, and the prevalence of this condition is rising in parallel with increases in the incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Of note, female patients seem to be particularly susceptible to the development of this complication of metabolic disease. The diabetic cardiomyopathy observed in insulin- resistant or hyperinsulinaemic states is characterized by impaired myocardial insulin signalling, mitochondrial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, impaired calcium homeostasis, abnormal coronary microcirculation, activation of the sympathetic nervous system, activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and maladaptive immune responses. These pathophysiological changes result in oxidative stress, fibrosis, hypertrophy, cardiac diastolic dysfunction and eventually systolic heart failure. This Review highlights a surge in diabetic cardiomyopathy research, summarizes current understanding of the molecular mechanisms underpinning this condition and explores potential preventive and therapeutic strategies.
Diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) is a widespread chronic medical condition with prevalence bordering on the verge of an epidemic. It is of great concern that cardiovascular disease is more common in ...patients with diabetes than the non-diabetic population. While hypertensive and ischemic heart disease is more common in diabetic patients, there is another type of heart disease in diabetes that is not associated with hypertension or coronary artery disease. This muscle functional disorder is termed “diabetic cardiomyopathy”. Diastolic dysfunction characterized by impaired diastolic relaxation time and reduced contractility precedes systolic dysfunction and is the main pathogenic hallmark of this condition. Even though the pathogenesis of “diabetic cardiomyopathy” is still controversial, impaired cardiac insulin sensitivity and metabolic overload are emerging as major molecular and metabolic mechanisms for cardiac dysfunction. Systemic insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, dysregulation of adipokine secretion, increases in circulating levels of inflammatory mediators, aberrant activation of renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS), and increased oxidative stress contribute dysregulated insulin and metabolic signaling in the heart and development of diastolic dysfunction. In addition, maladaptive calcium homeostasis and endothelial cell dysregulation endoplasmic reticular stress play a potential role in cardiomyocyte fibrosis/diastolic dysfunction. In this review, we will focus on emerging molecular and metabolic pathways underlying cardiac dysfunction in diabetes. Elucidation of these mechanisms should provide a better understanding of the various cardiac abnormalities associated with diastolic dysfunction and its progression to systolic dysfunction and heart failure.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The combination of obesity and hypertension is associated with high morbidity and mortality because it leads to cardiovascular and kidney disease. Potential mechanisms linking obesity to hypertension ...include dietary factors, metabolic, endothelial and vascular dysfunction, neuroendocrine imbalances, sodium retention, glomerular hyperfiltration, proteinuria, and maladaptive immune and inflammatory responses. Visceral adipose tissue also becomes resistant to insulin and leptin and is the site of altered secretion of molecules and hormones such as adiponectin, leptin, resistin, TNF and IL-6, which exacerbate obesity-associated cardiovascular disease. Accumulating evidence also suggests that the gut microbiome is important for modulating these mechanisms. Uric acid and altered incretin or dipeptidyl peptidase 4 activity further contribute to the development of hypertension in obesity. The pathophysiology of obesity-related hypertension is especially relevant to premenopausal women with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus who are at high risk of developing arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction. In this Review we discuss the relationship between obesity and hypertension with special emphasis on potential mechanisms and therapeutic targeting that might be used in a clinical setting.
RATIONALE:Enhanced activation of the mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) in cardiovascular tissues increases oxidative stress, maladaptive immune responses, and inflammation with associated functional ...vascular abnormalities. We previously demonstrated that consumption of a Western diet (WD) for 16 weeks results in aortic stiffening, and that these abnormalities were prevented by systemic MR blockade in female mice. However, the cell-specific role of endothelial cell MR (ECMR) in these maladaptive vascular effects has not been explored.
OBJECTIVE:We hypothesized that specific deletion of the ECMR would prevent WD-induced increases in endothelial sodium channel activation, reductions in bioavailable nitric oxide, increased vascular remodeling, and associated increases in vascular stiffness in females.
METHODS AND RESULTS:Four-week-old female ECMR knockout and wild-type mice were fed either mouse chow or WD for 16 weeks. WD feeding resulted in aortic stiffness and endothelial dysfunction as determined in vivo by pulse wave velocity and ex vivo by atomic force microscopy, and wire and pressure myography. The WD-induced aortic stiffness was associated with enhanced endothelial sodium channel activation, attenuated endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation, increased oxidative stress, a proinflammatory immune response and fibrosis. Conversely, cell-specific ECMR deficiency prevented WD-induced aortic fibrosis and stiffness in conjunction with reductions in endothelial sodium channel activation, oxidative stress and macrophage proinflammatory polarization, restoration of endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation.
CONCLUSIONS:Increased ECMR signaling associated with consumption of a WD plays a key role in endothelial sodium channel activation, reduced nitric oxide production, oxidative stress, and inflammation that lead to aortic remodeling and stiffness in female mice.
Proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) in the S1 segment of the kidney abundantly express sodium-glucose co-transporters (SGLT) that play a critical role in whole body glucose homeostasis. We ...recently reported suppression of RECK (Reversion Inducing Cysteine Rich Protein with Kazal Motifs), a membrane anchored endogenous MMP inhibitor and anti-fibrotic mediator, in the kidneys of db/db mice, a model of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), as well as in high glucose (HG) treated human kidney proximal tubule cells (HK−2). We further demonstrated that empagliflozin (EMPA), an SGLT2 inhibitor, reversed these effects. Little is known regarding the mechanisms underlying RECK suppression under hyperglycemic conditions, and its rescue by EMPA. Consistent with our previous studies, HG (25 mM) suppressed RECK expression in HK-2 cells. Further mechanistic investigations revealed that HG induced superoxide and hydrogen peroxide generation, oxidative stress-dependent TRAF3IP2 upregulation, NF-κB and p38 MAPK activation, inflammatory cytokine expression (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1), miR-21 induction, MMP2 activation, and RECK suppression. Moreover, RECK gain-of-function inhibited HG-induced MMP2 activation and HK-2 cell migration. Similar to HG, advanced glycation end products (AGE) induced TRAF3IP2 and suppressed RECK, effects that were inhibited by EMPA. Importantly, EMPA treatment ameliorated all of these deleterious effects, and inhibited epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and HK-2 cell migration. Collectively, these findings indicate that hyperglycemia and associated AGE suppress RECK expression via oxidative stress/TRAF3IP2/NF-κB and p38 MAPK/miR-21 induction. Furthermore, these results suggest that interventions aimed at restoring RECK or inhibiting SGLT2 have the potential to treat kidney inflammatory response/fibrosis and nephropathy under chronic hyperglycemic conditions, such as DKD.
Display omitted
•High glucose and associated AGE suppress RECK, an anti-fibrotic MMP-regulator, in proximal tubule epithelial cells (PTEC).•High glucose induces oxidative stress and TRAF3IP2-dependent inflammatory cytokine expression in renal PTEC.•Empagliflozin, a SGLT2 inhibitor, reverses HG- and AGE-induced RECK suppression and TRAF3IP2 upregulation in renal PTEC.•Empagliflozin suppresses EMT and PTEC migration, hallmarks of diabetic kidney disease.•Empagliflozin has therapeutic potential in diabetic kidney disease.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Women are especially predisposed to development of arterial stiffening secondary to obesity because of consumption of excessive calories. Enhanced activation of vascular mineralocorticoid receptors ...impairs insulin signaling, induces oxidative stress, inflammation, and maladaptive immune responses. We tested whether a subpressor dose of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, spironolactone (1 mg/kg per day) prevents aortic and femoral artery stiffening in female C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat/high-sugar western diet (WD) for 4 months (ie, from 4–20 weeks of age). Aortic and femoral artery stiffness were assessed using ultrasound, pressurized vessel preparations, and atomic force microscopy. WD induced weight gain and insulin resistance compared with control diet–fed mice and these abnormalities were unaffected by spironolactone. Blood pressures and heart rates were normal and unaffected by diet or spironolactone. Spironolactone prevented WD-induced stiffening of aorta and femoral artery, as well as endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells, within aortic explants. Spironolactone prevented WD-induced impaired aortic protein kinase B/endothelial nitric oxide synthase signaling, as well as impaired endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent vasodilation. Spironolactone ameliorated WD-induced aortic medial thickening and fibrosis and the associated activation of the progrowth extracellular receptor kinase 1/2 pathway. Finally, preservation of normal arterial stiffness with spironolactone in WD-fed mice was associated with attenuated systemic and vascular inflammation and an anti-inflammatory shift in vascular immune cell marker genes. Low-dose spironolactone may represent a novel prevention strategy to attenuate vascular inflammation, oxidative stress, and growth pathway signaling and remodeling to prevent development of arterial stiffening secondary to consumption of a WD.
Radiation therapy (XRT) for treatment of localized prostate cancer (PCA) has outcomes similar to surgery and medical therapy. Toxicities of XRT and the relative radioresistance of PCA limit the ...effectiveness of this treatment method. Safe and effective radiosensitizing agents are lacking to enhance the effectiveness for XRT for PCA. In this study, the effect of XRT in combination with the radiosensitizing agent resveratrol (RSV) was investigated in a radioresistant PCA cell line, PC‐3. Our results show the addition of RSV to XRT (XRT/RSV) synergistically enhanced XRT‐induced apoptosis and inhibition of PC‐3 proliferation. The antiproliferative effect of XRT/RSV treatment correlated with increased expression of p15, p21, and mutant p53 and decreased expression of cyclin B, cyclin D, and cdk2. Increased apoptosis correlated with increased expression of Fas and TRAILR1. Furthermore, XRT/RSV had little effect on the expression of p‐AKT, whereas it increased the expression level of p‐H2A.X, a marker for senescence. These data highlight the potential of RSV as a radiation sensitizer for PCA treatment and warrant further investigation. (Cancer Sci 2012; 103: 1090–1098)
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP-4) is a ubiquitously expressed transmembrane protein that removes NH2-terminal dipeptides from various substrate hormones, chemokines, neuropeptides, and growth factors. ...Two known substrates of DPP-4 include the incretin hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and gastric inhibitory peptide, which are secreted by enteroendocrine cells in response to postprandial hyperglycemia and account for 60–70% of postprandial insulin secretion. DPP-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i) block degradation of GLP-1 and gastric inhibitory peptide, extend their insulinotropic effect, and improve glycemia. Since 2006, several DPP-4i have become available for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Clinical trials confirm that DPP-4i raises GLP-1 levels in plasma and improves glycemia with very low risk for hypoglycemia and other side effects. Recent studies also suggest that DPP-4i confers cardiovascular and kidney protection, beyond glycemic control, which may reduce the risk for further development of the multiple comorbidities associated with obesity/type 2 diabetes mellitus, including hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and kidney disease. The notion that DPP-4i may improve CVD outcomes by mechanisms beyond glycemic control is due to both GLP-1-dependent and GLP-1-independent effects. The CVD protective effects by DPP-4i result from multiple factors including insulin resistance, oxidative stress, dyslipidemia, adipose tissue dysfunction, dysfunctional immunity, and antiapoptotic properties of these agents in the heart and vasculature. This review focuses on cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating the CVD protective effects of DPP-4i beyond favorable effects on glycemic control.
Abstract Insulin resistance is a hallmark of obesity, the cardiorenal metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The progression of insulin resistance increases the risk for ...cardiovascular disease (CVD). The significance of insulin resistance is underscored by the alarming rise in the prevalence of obesity and its associated comorbidities in the Unites States and worldwide over the last 40–50 years. The incidence of obesity is also on the rise in adolescents. Furthermore, premenopausal women have lower CVD risk compared to men, but this protection is lost in the setting of obesity and insulin resistance. Although systemic and cardiovascular insulin resistance is associated with impaired insulin metabolic signaling and cardiovascular dysfunction, the mechanisms underlying insulin resistance and cardiovascular dysfunction remain poorly understood. Recent studies show that insulin resistance in obesity and diabetes is linked to a metabolic inflammatory response, a state of systemic and tissue specific chronic low grade inflammation. Evidence is also emerging that there is polarization of macrophages and lymphocytes towards a pro-inflammatory phenotype that contributes to progression of insulin resistance in obesity, cardiorenal metabolic syndrome and diabetes. In this review, we provide new insights into factors, such as, the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, sympathetic activation and incretin modulators (e.g., DPP-4) and immune responses that mediate this inflammatory state in obesity and other conditions characterized by insulin resistance.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The rising obesity rates parallel increased consumption of a Western diet, high in fat and fructose, which is associated with increased uric acid. Population-based data support that elevated serum ...uric acids are associated with left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction. However, the mechanism by which excess uric acid promotes these maladaptive cardiac effects has not been explored. In assessing the role of Western diet-induced increases in uric acid, we hypothesized that reductions in uric acid would prevent Western diet-induced development of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, cardiac stiffness, and impaired diastolic relaxation by reducing growth and profibrotic signaling pathways. Four-weeks-old C57BL6/J male mice were fed excess fat (46%) and fructose (17.5%) with or without allopurinol (125 mg/L), a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, for 16 weeks. The Western diet-induced increases in serum uric acid along with increases in cardiac tissue xanthine oxidase activity temporally related to increases in body weight, fat mass, and insulin resistance without changes in blood pressure. The Western diet induced cardiomyocte hypertrophy, myocardial oxidative stress, interstitial fibrosis, and impaired diastolic relaxation. Further, the Western diet enhanced activation of the S6 kinase-1 growth pathway and the profibrotic transforming growth factor-β1/Smad2/3 signaling pathway and macrophage proinflammatory polarization. All results improved with allopurinol treatment, which lowered cardiac xanthine oxidase as well as serum uric acid levels. These findings support the notion that increased production of uric acid with intake of a Western diet promotes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, inflammation, and oxidative stress that lead to myocardial fibrosis and associated impaired diastolic relaxation.