Impaired Insulin-Induced Attenuation of Noradrenaline-Mediated Vasoconstriction in Insulin-Resistant Obese Zucker Rats

1997 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Walker ◽  
J. Dores ◽  
R. E. Buckingham ◽  
M. W. Savage ◽  
G. Williams

1. Insulin resistance is associated with hypertension but the underlying mechanism is unclear. We tested the hypothesis that insulin-induced vasodilatation is impaired in insulin-resistant obese Zucker rats. We studied mesenteric artery (≈ 220 μm diameter) function before the development of hypertension in 3-month old obese Zucker rats and age-matched lean rats. 2. In vessels from lean rats, insulin at concentrations of 50, 500 and 5000 m-units/l attenuated the constriction in response to noradrenaline (50 m-units/l: 8 ± 3%, P < 0.05; 500 m-units/l: 13 ± 3%, P < 0.02; 5000 m-units/l: 13 ± 2%, P < 0.02). 3. Vessels from obese rats failed to show any such response to insulin (2 ± 6% increase in maximal tension with 5000 m-units/l; not significant), both in the presence and absence of l-arginine (3 mmol/l). 4. Vessels from obese rats showed slight but significant impairment in the vasodilator response to acetylcholine (5 × 10−8−10−4 mol/l) (obese: 64.1 ± 3.7% relaxation; lean: 77.3 ± 3.7% relaxation; P < 0.05); however, relaxation in response to A23187 was not significantly different between the phenotypes (obese: 81.3 ± 10.6% relaxation; lean: 79.1 ± 9.7% relaxation; not significant). 5. Systolic blood pressure was not significantly different in lean (126 ± 8 mmHg) and obese (127 ± 7 mmHg) rats at the time of study (not significant). 6. We conclude that insulin-induced attenuation of noradrenaline-mediated vasoconstriction is impaired in the obese Zucker rat and that this defect precedes and therefore could contribute to the development of hypertension in this insulin-resistant model. The defect in insulin action could reside in the endothelial generation of nitric oxide, as endothelial function is also abnormal.

1998 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Megirian ◽  
Jacek Dmochowski ◽  
Gaspar A. Farkas

Megirian, David, Jacek Dmochowski, and Gaspar A. Farkas. Mechanism controlling sleep organization of the obese Zucker rat. J. Appl. Physiol. 84(1): 253–256, 1998.—We tested the hypothesis that the obese ( fa/fa) Zucker rat has a sleep organization that differs from that of lean Zucker rats. We used the polygraphic technique to identify and to quantify the distribution of the three main states of the rat: wakefulness (W), non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM), and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep states. Assessment of states was made with light present (1000–1600), at the rats thermoneutral temperature of 29°C. Obese rats, compared with lean ones, did not show significant differences in the total time spent in the three main states. Whereas the mean durations of W and REM states did not differ statistically, that of NREM did ( P = 0.046). However, in the obese rats, the frequencies of switching from NREM sleep to W, which increased, and from NREM to REM sleep, which decreased, were statistically significantly different ( P = 0.019). Frequency of switching from either REM or W state was not significantly different. We conclude that sleep organization differs between lean and obese Zucker rats and that it is due to a disparity in switching from NREM sleep to either W or REM sleep and the mean duration of NREM sleep.


1995 ◽  
Vol 311 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Uphues ◽  
T Kolter ◽  
B Goud ◽  
J Eckel

Cardiac ventricular tissue of lean and genetically obese (fa/fa) Zucker rats was used to study the expression, subcellular distribution and insulin-induced recruitment of the glucose transporter GLUT4 and to elucidate possible molecular alterations of the translocation process. Hearts were removed from basal and insulin-treated (20 min) lean and obese Zucker rats, and processed for subcellular fractionation and Western blotting of proteins. In obese rats, the total GLUT4 content in a crude membrane fraction was reduced to 75 +/- 8% (P = 0.019) of lean controls. In contrast, GLUT4 abundance in plasma membranes was not significantly different between lean and obese rats with a concomitant decrease (47 +/- 3%) in the microsomal fraction of obese animals. In plasma membranes of lean animals insulin was found to increase the GLUT4 abundance to 294 +/- 43% of control with a significantly (P = 0.009) reduced effect in the obese group (139 +/- 10% of control). In these animals insulin failed to recruit GLUT4 from the microsomal fraction, whereas the hormone induced a significant decrease (41 +/- 4%) of microsomal GLUT4 in lean controls. In GLUT4-enriched membrane vesicles, obtained from cardiac microsomes of lean rats, a 24 kDa GTP-binding protein could be detected, whereas no significant labelling of this species was observed in GLUT4 vesicles prepared from obese animals. In addition to the translocation of GLUT4, insulin was found to promote the movement of the small GTP-binding protein rab4A from the cytosol (decrease to 61 +/- 13% of control) to the plasma membrane (increase to 177 +/- 19% of control) in lean rats with no effect of the hormone on rab4A redistribution in the obese group. In conclusion, cardiac glucose uptake of insulin-resistant obese Zucker rats is subject to multiple cellular abnormalities involving a reduced expression, altered redistribution and defective recruitment of GLUT4. We show here an association of the latter defect with alterations at the level of small GTP-binding proteins possibly leading to an impaired trafficking of GLUT4 in the insulin-resistant state.


2006 ◽  
Vol 290 (5) ◽  
pp. E925-E932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Apiradee Sriwijitkamol ◽  
John L. Ivy ◽  
Christine Christ-Roberts ◽  
Ralph A. DeFronzo ◽  
Lawrence J. Mandarino ◽  
...  

AMPK is a key regulator of fat and carbohydrate metabolism. It has been postulated that defects in AMPK signaling could be responsible for some of the metabolic abnormalities of type 2 diabetes. In this study, we examined whether insulin-resistant obese Zucker rats have abnormalities in the AMPK pathway. We compared AMPK and ACC phosphorylation and the protein content of the upstream AMPK kinase LKB1 and the AMPK-regulated transcriptional coactivator PPARγ coactivator-1 (PGC-1) in gastrocnemius of sedentary obese Zucker rats and sedentary lean Zucker rats. We also examined whether 7 wk of exercise training on a treadmill reversed abnormalities in the AMPK pathway in obese Zucker rats. In the obese rats, AMPK phosphorylation was reduced by 45% compared with lean rats. Protein expression of the AMPK kinase LKB1 was also reduced in the muscle from obese rats by 43%. In obese rats, phosphorylation of ACC and protein expression of PGC-1α, two AMPK-regulated proteins, tended to be reduced by 50 ( P = 0.07) and 35% ( P = 0.1), respectively. There were no differences in AMPKα1, -α2, -β1, -β2, and -γ3 protein content between lean and obese rats. Training caused a 1.5-fold increase in AMPKα1 protein content in the obese rats, although there was no effect of training on AMPK phosphorylation and the other AMPK isoforms. Furthermore, training also significantly increased LKB1 and PGC-1α protein content 2.8- and 2.5-fold, respectively, in the obese rats. LKB1 protein strongly correlated with hexokinase II activity ( r = 0.75, P = 0.001), citrate synthase activity ( r = 0.54, P = 0.02), and PGC-1α protein content ( r = 0.81, P < 0.001). In summary, obese insulin-resistant rodents have abnormalities in the LKB1-AMPK-PGC-1 pathway in muscle, and these abnormalities can be restored by training.


1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (3) ◽  
pp. 917-919 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Dugail ◽  
X Le Liepvre ◽  
A Quignard-Boulangé ◽  
J Pairault ◽  
M Lavau

Adipsin gene expression as assessed by mRNA amounts was examined in adipose tissue of genetically obese rats at the onset (16 days of age) or at later stages (30 and 60 days of age) of obesity. Amounts of mRNA were equivalent in obese and lean rats at 16 days of age. In adult rats, we observed a 2-fold decrease in adipsin mRNA in the obese rats compared with control lean rats, which was abolished by weaning the animals on a high-fat diet. Our data show that, in sharp contrast with genetically obese mice, adipsin mRNA is not suppressed in genetically obese Zucker rats.


1994 ◽  
Vol 267 (5) ◽  
pp. H1976-H1983 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Ridray ◽  
D. Heudes ◽  
O. Michel ◽  
L. Penicaud ◽  
A. Ktorza

The long-term effect of long-lasting hyperinsulinemia on aortic smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation after endothelial injury was investigated using the obese Zucker rat model, which is characterized especially by early spontaneous development of hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance. SMC proliferation was provoked by the passage of an embolectomy catheter with a tightly inflated balloon and was assessed by measuring the incorporation of [3H]thymidine in the DNA of intima-media layers. Compared with controls, the SMC mitotic activity was not significantly increased from day 2 to day 7 after injury, but from day 14 to day 30 after endothelial denudation, SMC proliferation was significantly less decreased in obese than in lean rats [on day 14, DNA synthesis = 107 +/- 18 counts.min-1.micrograms DNA-1 in lean and 345 +/- 44 counts.min-1.micrograms DNA-1 in obese rats (P = 0.003); and on day 30, DNA synthesis = 74 +/- 18 counts.min-1.micrograms DNA-1 in lean and 133 +/- 19 counts.min-1.micrograms DNA-1 in obese rats (P = 0.0055)]. As a result, the intima-media DNA content was higher in obese than in lean rats on day 14 and even more so on day 30, suggesting a higher amount of SMCs in the intima-media. Moreover, on day 30, the aortic thickening, as measured by a histomorphometric technique, was much higher in obese than in lean rats. This difference was entirely due to an increase in SMC content of the intima, mainly resulting from a dramatic increment in the number of nuclei and nuclear number density.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (1) ◽  
pp. E137-E144 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Azain ◽  
D. B. Hausman ◽  
T. R. Kasser ◽  
R. J. Martin

The objective of the present study was to determine whether exogenous somatotropin (STH) administration in conjunction with feed restriction could alter the composition of gain in the obese rat. Five-week-old female lean and obese Zucker rats were assigned to the following treatments for 6 wk: ad libitum fed (AL), restricted (approximately 75% of AL lean), and restricted with STH (2 mg STH/day). Growth rate was decreased in restricted groups and was normalized to that of the AL lean group in restricted rats treated with STH. In lean rats, restriction decreased protein accretion. Restriction plus STH treatment decreased lipid accretion but increased protein accretion and body weight gain compared with the AL lean group. As expected, feed restriction reduced body size in obese rats, but carcass lipid was maintained at 44%, a level similar to that of the AL obese rats. Lipid accretion rate was decreased with restriction in obese rats and was further reduced, to a level similar to that of the lean group, in the obese rats that were restricted and treated with STH. Protein accretion was decreased in the restricted obese group but was normalized in those treated with STH to a level similar to that in the AL lean group. Basal rates of lipolysis in isolated adipocytes were not affected by STH. However, STH treatment normalized the responsiveness of cells from the obese rats to stimulation of lipolysis by isoproterenol. The results demonstrate that a combination of caloric restriction and STH was effective in normalizing body weight and composition of gain in the obese Zucker rat.


1990 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1987-1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Torgan ◽  
J. T. Brozinick ◽  
M. E. Willems ◽  
J. L. Ivy

The purpose of the present study was to compare the carbohydrate use of insulin-resistant obese Zucker rats with that of their lean littermates during steady-state exercise. Obese and lean rats were randomly assigned to a sedentary group or to a run group in which rats ran at 72-73% of their maximal O2 consumption, with the duration of exercise set to require an energy expenditure of 2.1-2.2 kcal. During the run the respiratory exchange ratio was significantly higher in the obese than in the lean rats [0.94 +/- 0.01 (SE) and 0.86 +/- 0.01, respectively], which indicate that the obese rats required 54% more carbohydrate than the lean rats. Total muscle glycogen utilization in the soleus, plantaris, and red and white gastrocnemius was not different between groups. Obese rats had total liver glycogen values five times greater than those of lean rats (833.38 +/- 101.4 and 152.8 +/- 37.5 mg, respectively) and utilized twice as much liver glycogen as their lean littermates (193.5 and 90.4 mg, respectively). The obese rats exhibited higher blood glucose and insulin concentrations than the lean rats during the run. These findings indicate that, despite their characteristic insulin resistance, the obese Zucker rats had a greater dependency on carbohydrate as a substrate during exercise than their lean littermates and that the major source of this carbohydrate was liver glycogen.


1984 ◽  
Vol 219 (1) ◽  
pp. 333-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Bruzzone ◽  
E R Trimble ◽  
A Gjinovci ◽  
A E Renold

The contents of three major digestive enzymes (amylase, lipase and chymotrypsinogen) were measured in the obese Zucker rat. Only minimal changes were found in 7-week-old rats, but in adult obese rats (14-16 weeks) the amylase content was decreased by 50%, whereas the lipase and chymotrypsinogen contents were increased by 45% and 20%, respectively, compared with lean controls. Abnormalities of enzyme secretion were also found. Since the changes observed in enzyme proportions in adult obese Zucker rats are qualitatively similar to those observed in insulinopenic diabetes and other states associated with decreased glucose metabolism, it is speculated that the abnormalities found in the obese Zucker rat may be due to decreased glucose metabolism in the exocrine tissue consequent to insulin resistance.


1993 ◽  
Vol 289 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
P L Dolan ◽  
E B Tapscott ◽  
P J Dorton ◽  
G L Dohm

Both insulin and contraction stimulate glucose transport in skeletal muscle. Insulin-stimulated glucose transport is decreased in obese humans and rats. The aims of this study were (1) to determine if contraction-stimulated glucose transport was also compromised in skeletal muscle of genetically obese insulin-resistant Zucker rats, and (2) to determine whether the additive effects of insulin and contraction previously observed in muscle from lean subjects were evident in muscle from the obese animals. To measure glucose transport, hindlimbs from lean and obese Zucker rats were perfused under basal, insulin-stimulated (0.1 microM), contraction-stimulated (electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve) and combined insulin-(+)contraction-stimulated conditions. One hindlimb was stimulated to contract while the contralateral leg served as an unstimulated control. 2-Deoxyglucose transport rates were measured in the white gastrocnemius, red gastrocnemius and extensor digitorum longus muscles. As expected, the insulin-stimulated glucose transport rate in each of the three muscles was significantly slower (P < 0.05) in obese rats when compared with lean animals. When expressed as fold stimulation over basal, there was no significant difference in contraction-induced muscle glucose transport rates between lean and obese animals. Insulin-(+)contraction-stimulation was additive in skeletal muscle of lean animals, but synergistic in skeletal muscle of obese animals. Prior contraction increased insulin responsiveness of glucose transport 2-5-fold in the obese rats, but had no effect on insulin responsiveness in the lean controls. This contraction-induced improvement in insulin responsiveness could be of clinical importance to obese subjects as a way to improve insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in resistant skeletal muscle.


1993 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 1694-1704
Author(s):  
P Fioretto ◽  
W F Keane ◽  
B L Kasiske ◽  
M P O'Donnell ◽  
D J Klein

Glomerular proteoglycans (PG) are important in modulating extracellular matrix assembly and glomerular permselectivity. In the obese Zucker rat, an experimental model of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, expansion of the mesangial matrix, and microalbuminuria occur before the development of overt renal disease. The in vivo incorporation of (35S)sulfate into glomerular PG in 12-wk-old obese Zucker rats at the onset of microalbuminuria was compared with that of 12-wk-old lean Zucker rats. Specific (35S)sulfate incorporation into glomerular PG over 8 h was increased by 57% in obese rats compared with lean rats, suggesting increased PG synthesis. However, at variance with the observation in experimental models of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, the proportion of total glomerular (35S)PG released by heparin treatment was unchanged. Heparan sulfate (HS)-PG constituted over 60% of radiolabeled de novo synthesized glomerular PG. Similar proportions of HS-PG were extracted from the glomeruli of obese and lean rats. Isolated glomeruli spontaneously released two HS-PG, which constituted approximately 30% of total glomerular (35S)PG. On the basis of their chromatographic and electrophoretic patterns, these PG were similar in obese and lean rats. Heparin treatment of isolated glomeruli released an additional HS-PG, which appeared to be derived primarily from the glomerular extracellular matrix compartment and not from the detergent soluble cell fraction. Heparin-releasable HS-PG from both the lean and obese Zucker rats eluted at a KAV of 0.31 from Sepharose CL-6B chromatographic columns, indicating a hydrodynamic size similar to that reported for glomerular basement membrane HS-PG. However, gel electrophoresis demonstrated faster migration of the HS-PG released by heparin from the glomeruli of obese Zucker rats, suggesting increased electronegativity. Thus, early in the course of nephropathy in the obese Zucker rat, there is increased glomerular PG synthesis with no change in the proportions of the constitutively releasable and heparin-releasable HS-PG. Whether electrophoretic abnormalities of the heparin-releasable HS-PG observed in the obese rats contribute to the development of albuminuria and/or mesangial matrix expansion remains to be established.


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