Human brown adipose tissue (BAT) can be activated to increase glucose uptake and energy expenditure, making it a potential target for treating obesity and metabolic disease. Data on the functional ...and anatomic characteristics of BAT are limited, however. In 20 healthy young men 12 lean, mean body mass index (BMI) 23.2 ± 1.9 kg/m²; 8 obese, BMI 34.8 ± 3.3 kg/m² after 5 h of tolerable cold exposure, we measured BAT volume and activity by 18F-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (PET/CT). Obese men had less activated BAT than lean men (mean, 130 vs. 334 mL) but more fat in BAT-containing depots (mean, 1,646 vs. 855 mL) with a wide range (0.1–71%) in the ratio of activated BAT to inactive fat between individuals. Six anatomic regions had activated BAT—cervical, supraclavicular, axillary, mediastinal, paraspinal, and abdominal—with 67 ± 20% of all activated BAT concentrated in a continuous fascial layer comprising the first three depots in the upper torso. These nonsubcutaneous fat depots amounted to 1.5% of total body mass (4.3% of total fat mass), and up to 90% of each depot could be activated BAT. The amount and activity of BAT was significantly influenced by region of interest selection methods, PET threshold criteria, and PET resolutions. The present study suggests that active BAT can be found in specific adipose depots in adult humans, but less than one-half of the fat in these depots is stimulated by acute cold exposure, demonstrating a previously underappreciated thermogenic potential.
Reprogramming metabolism is of great therapeutic interest for reducing morbidity and mortality during sepsis-induced critical illness. Disappointing results from randomized controlled trials ...targeting glutamine and antioxidant metabolism in patients with sepsis have begged a deeper understanding of the tissue-specific metabolic response to sepsis. The current study sought to fill this gap. We analyzed skeletal muscle transcriptomics of critically ill patients, versus elective surgical controls, which revealed reduced expression of genes involved in mitochondrial metabolism and electron transport, with increases in glutathione cycling, glutamine, branched chain, and aromatic amino acid transport. We then performed untargeted metabolomics and 13C isotope tracing to analyze systemic and tissue specific metabolic phenotyping in a murine polymicrobial sepsis model. We found an increased number of correlations between the metabolomes of liver, kidney, and spleen, with loss of correlations between the heart and quadriceps and all other organs, pointing to a shared metabolic signature within vital abdominal organs, and unique metabolic signatures for muscles during sepsis. A lowered GSH:GSSG and elevated AMP:ATP ratio in the liver underlie the significant upregulation of isotopically labeled glutamine's contribution to TCA cycle anaplerosis and glutamine-derived glutathione biosynthesis; meanwhile, the skeletal muscle and spleen were the only organs where glutamine's contribution to the TCA cycle was significantly suppressed. These results highlight tissue-specific mitochondrial reprogramming to support liver energetic demands and antioxidant synthesis, rather than global mitochondrial dysfunction, as a metabolic consequence of sepsis.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
3.
Insulin and cancer: a tangled web Leitner, Brooks P; Siebel, Stephan; Akingbesote, Ngozi D ...
Biochemical journal,
03/2022, Letnik:
479, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
For a century, since the pioneering work of Otto Warburg, the interwoven relationship between metabolism and cancer has been appreciated. More recently, with obesity rates rising in the U.S. and ...worldwide, epidemiologic evidence has supported a link between obesity and cancer. A substantial body of work seeks to mechanistically unpack the association between obesity, altered metabolism, and cancer. Without question, these relationships are multifactorial and cannot be distilled to a single obesity- and metabolism-altering hormone, substrate, or factor. However, it is important to understand the hormone-specific associations between metabolism and cancer. Here, we review the links between obesity, metabolic dysregulation, insulin, and cancer, with an emphasis on current investigational metabolic adjuncts to standard-of-care cancer treatment.
BACKGROUNDMirabegron is a β3-adrenergic receptor (β3-AR) agonist approved only for the treatment of overactive bladder. Encouraging preclinical results suggest that β3-AR agonists could also improve ...obesity-related metabolic disease by increasing brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, white adipose tissue (WAT) lipolysis, and insulin sensitivity.METHODSWe treated 14 healthy women of diverse ethnicities (27.5 ± 1.1 years of age, BMI of 25.4 ± 1.2 kg/m2) with 100 mg mirabegron (Myrbetriq extended-release tablet, Astellas Pharma) for 4 weeks in an open-label study. The primary endpoint was the change in BAT metabolic activity as measured by 18F-2-fluoro-d-2-deoxy-d-glucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT. Secondary endpoints included resting energy expenditure (REE), plasma metabolites, and glucose and insulin metabolism as assessed by a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test.RESULTSChronic mirabegron therapy increased BAT metabolic activity. Whole-body REE was higher, without changes in body weight or composition. Additionally, there were elevations in plasma levels of the beneficial lipoprotein biomarkers HDL and ApoA1, as well as total bile acids. Adiponectin, a WAT-derived hormone that has antidiabetic and antiinflammatory capabilities, increased with acute treatment and was 35% higher upon completion of the study. Finally, an intravenous glucose tolerance test revealed higher insulin sensitivity, glucose effectiveness, and insulin secretion.CONCLUSIONThese findings indicate that human BAT metabolic activity can be increased after chronic pharmacological stimulation with mirabegron and support the investigation of β3-AR agonists as a treatment for metabolic disease.TRIAL REGISTRATIONClinicaltrials.gov NCT03049462.FUNDINGThis work was supported by grants from the Intramural Research Program of the NIDDK, NIH (DK075112, DK075116, DK071013, and DK071014).
Obesity confers an increased risk and accelerates the progression of multiple tumor types in rodents and humans, including both breast and colon cancer. Because sustained weight loss is rarely ...achieved, therapeutic approaches to slow or prevent obesity-associated cancer development have been limited, and mechanistic insights as to the obesity-cancer connection have been lacking.
E0771 breast tumors and MC38 colon tumors were treated in vivo in mice and in vitro with two mechanistically different insulin-lowering agents, a controlled-release mitochondrial protonophore (CRMP) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, and tumor growth and glucose metabolism were assessed. Groups were compared by ANOVA with Bonferroni's multiple comparisons test.
Dapagliflozin slows tumor growth in two mouse models (E0771 breast cancer and MC38 colon adenocarcinoma) of obesity-associated cancers in vivo, and a mechanistically different insulin-lowering agent, CRMP, also slowed breast tumor growth through its effect to reverse hyperinsulinemia. In both models and with both agents, tumor glucose uptake and oxidation were not constitutively high, but were hormone-responsive. Restoration of hyperinsulinemia by subcutaneous insulin infusion abrogated the effects of both dapagliflozin and CRMP to slow tumor growth.
Taken together, these data demonstrate that hyperinsulinemia per se promotes both breast and colon cancer progression in obese mice, and highlight SGLT2 inhibitors as a clinically available means of slowing obesity-associated tumor growth due to their glucose- and insulin-lowering effects.
Objective
This study aimed to quantify and compare the amount, activity, and anatomical distribution of cold‐activated brown adipose tissue (BAT) in healthy, young, lean women and men.
Methods
BAT ...volume and 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose uptake were measured by positron emission tomography and computerized tomography in 12 women and 12 men (BMI 18.5‐25 kg/m2, aged 18‐35 years) after 5 hours of exposure to their coldest temperature before overt shivering.
Results
Women had a lower detectable BAT volume than men (P = 0.03), but there was no difference after normalizing to body size. The mean BAT glucose uptake and relative distribution of BAT did not differ by sex. 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose uptake consistent with BAT was observed in superficial dorsocervical adipose tissue of 6 of 12 women but only 1 of 12 men (P = 0.02). This potential BAT depot would pose fewer biopsy risks than other depots.
Conclusions
Despite differences in adiposity and total BAT volume, we found that healthy, lean, young women and men do not differ in the relative amount, glucose uptake, and distribution of BAT. Dorsocervical 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose uptake was more prevalent in women and may be a remnant of interscapular BAT seen in human newborns. Future studies are needed to discern how BAT contributes to whole‐body thermal physiology and body weight regulation in women and men.
Metabolic scaling, the inverse correlation of metabolic rates to body mass, has been appreciated for more than 80 years. Studies of metabolic scaling have largely been restricted to mathematical ...modeling of caloric intake and oxygen consumption, and mostly rely on computational modeling. The possibility that other metabolic processes scale with body size has not been comprehensively studied. To address this gap in knowledge, we employed a systems approach including transcriptomics, proteomics, and measurement of in vitro and in vivo metabolic fluxes. Gene expression in livers of five species spanning a 30,000-fold range in mass revealed differential expression according to body mass of genes related to cytosolic and mitochondrial metabolic processes, and to detoxication of oxidative damage. To determine whether flux through key metabolic pathways is ordered inversely to body size, we applied stable isotope tracer methodology to study multiple cellular compartments, tissues, and species. Comparing C57BL/6 J mice with Sprague-Dawley rats, we demonstrate that while ordering of metabolic fluxes is not observed in in vitro cell-autonomous settings, it is present in liver slices and in vivo. Together, these data reveal that metabolic scaling extends beyond oxygen consumption to other aspects of metabolism, and is regulated at the level of gene and protein expression, enzyme activity, and substrate supply.
Mobilization of glycogen, the short‐term storage form of glucose, is the body's first defense against hypoglycemia and is critical for energy provision during high intensity exercise. Therefore, to ...advance metabolic research, it is critical to be able to accurately measure glycogen concentrations, including during a prolonged fast and other glycogen‐modulating interventions. Unfortunately, prior enzymatic methods of glycogen detection have been plagued by poor detection in the lower range, high sample mass requirements, and complicated and/or expensive protocols which introduce substantial technical variability into the measured glycogen concentrations. To address these limitations, here we report a streamlined and versatile glycogen extraction protocol coupled with an optimized phenol‐sulfuric acid quantification protocol. With this method, we demonstrate how glycogen can be extracted from only 20 mg of tissue with one centrifugation step and quantified with a highly precise (Intra‐assay %CV ranges from 5–10%) and sensitive (proportionality constant for glycogen = 0.07279 A.U./µg) assay. The cost of all materials equates to ~10 cents per sample. Therefore, this method represents an attractive means of assessing ex vivo tissue glycogen content including at the extremes of glycogen concentrations.
It is critical to be able to accurately measure glycogen concentrations, including during a prolonged fast and other glycogen‐modulating interventions. Unfortunately, prior enzymatic methods of glycogen detection have been plagued by poor detection in the lower range, high sample mass requirements, and complicated and/or expensive protocols which introduce substantial technical variability into the measured glycogen concentrations. To address these limitations, here we report a streamlined and versatile glycogen extraction protocol coupled with an optimized phenol‐sulfuric acid quantification protocol.
Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common complications in patients with multiple cancer types and severely affects patients' quality of life. However, there have only been single ...symptom-relieving adjuvant therapies but no effective pharmaceutical treatment for the CRF syndrome. Dichloroacetate (DCA), a small molecule inhibitor of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, has been tested as a potential therapy to slow tumor growth, based largely on its effects in vitro to halt cell division. We found that although DCA did not affect rates of tumor growth or the efficacy of standard cancer treatment (immunotherapy and chemotherapy) in two murine cancer models, DCA preserved physical function in mice with late-stage tumors by reducing circulating lactate concentrations. In vivo liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry studies suggest that DCA treatment may preserve membrane potential, postpone proteolysis, and relieve oxidative stress in muscles of tumor-bearing mice. In all, this study provides evidence for DCA as a novel pharmaceutical treatment to maintain physical function and motivation in murine models of CRF.
We identify a new metabolic target for cancer-related fatigue, dichloroacetate (DCA). They demonstrate that in mice, DCA preserves physical function and protects against the detrimental effects of cancer treatment by reducing cancer-induced increases in circulating lactate. As DCA is already FDA approved for another indication, these results could be rapidly translated to clinical trials for this condition for which no pharmaceutical therapies exist beyond symptom management.
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) has been identified as a potential target in the treatment and prevention of obesity and metabolic disease. The precise kinetics of BAT activation and the duration of ...stimulus required to recruit metabolically active BAT, and its subsequent deactivation, are not well-understood. In this clinical trial, 19 healthy adults (BMI: 23.7 ± 0.7 kg/m
, Age: 31.2 ± 2.8 year, 12 female) underwent three different cooling procedures to stimulate BAT glucose uptake, and active BAT volume was determined using
F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT imaging. We found that 20 min of pre-injection cooling produces activation similar to the standard 60 min (39.9 mL vs. 44.2 mL, p = 0.52), indicating that BAT activity approaches its peak function soon after the initiation of cooling. Furthermore, upon removal of cold exposure, active BAT volume declines (13.6 mL vs. 44.2 mL, p = 0.002), but the deactivation process persists even hours following cessation of cooling. Thus, the kinetics of human BAT thermogenesis are characterized by a rapid increase soon after cold stimulation but a more gradual decline after rewarming. These characteristics reinforce the feasibility of developing mild, short-duration cold exposure to activate BAT and treat obesity and metabolic disease.