GH replacement causing acute hyperglycaemia and ketonuria in a type 1 diabetic patient

Summary A state of insulin resistance is common to the clinical conditions of both chronic growth hormone (GH) deficiency and GH excess (acromegaly). GH has a physiological role in glucose metabolism in the acute settings of fast and exercise and is the only anabolic hormone secreted in the fasting state. We report the case of a patient in whom knowledge of this aspect of GH physiology was vital to her care. A woman with well-controlled type 1 diabetes mellitus who developed hypopituitarism following the birth of her first child required GH replacement therapy. Hours after the first dose, she developed a rapid metabolic deterioration and awoke with hyperglycaemia and ketonuria. She adjusted her insulin dose accordingly, but the pattern was repeated with each subsequent increase in her dose. Acute GH-induced lipolysis results in an abundance of free fatty acids (FFA); these directly inhibit glucose uptake into muscle, and this can lead to hyperglycaemia. This glucose–fatty acid cycle was first described by Randle et al. in 1963; it is a nutrient-mediated fine control that allows oxidative muscle to switch between glucose and fatty acids as fuel, depending on their availability. We describe the mechanism in detail. Learning points There is a complex interplay between GH and insulin resistance: chronically, both GH excess and deficiency lead to insulin resistance, but there is also an acute mechanism that is less well appreciated by clinicians. GH activates hormone-sensitive lipase to release FFA into the circulation; these may inhibit the uptake of glucose leading to hyperglycaemia and ketosis in the type 1 diabetic patient. The Randle cycle, or glucose–fatty acid cycle, outlines the mechanism for this acute relationship. Monitoring the adequacy of GH replacement in patients with type 1 diabetes is difficult, with IGF1 an unreliable marker.

The Randle cycle revisited: a new head for an old hat

In 1963, Lancet published a paper by Randle et al. that proposed a “glucose-fatty acid cycle” to describe fuel flux between and fuel selection by tissues. The original biochemical mechanism explained the inhibition of glucose oxidation by fatty acids. Since then, the principle has been confirmed by many investigators. At the same time, many new mechanisms controlling the utilization of glucose and fatty acids have been discovered. Here, we review the known short- and long-term mechanisms involved in the control of glucose and fatty acid utilization at the cytoplasmic and mitochondrial level in mammalian muscle and liver under normal and pathophysiological conditions. They include allosteric control, reversible phosphorylation, and the expression of key enzymes. However, the complexity is formidable. We suggest that not all chapters of the Randle cycle have been written.

In appreciation of Sir Philip Randle: The glucose-fatty acid cycle

The coordinated regulation of metabolic fuel selection is crucial to energy homeostasis. Philip Randle and his colleagues developed the fundamental concept of interplay between carbohydrate and lipid fuels in relation to the requirement for energy utilisation and storage. Their insight has fashioned current understanding of the regulation of metabolism in health and disease, as well as providing a springboard for research into the roles of lipid derivatives in insulin resistance and, at the transcriptional level, lipid-regulated nuclear hormone receptors.

Short-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency associated with hyperinsulinism: a novel glucose–fatty acid cycle?

Hyperinsulinism of infancy is caused by inappropriate insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells, even when blood glucose is low. Several molecular defects are known to cause hyperinsulinism of infancy, such as KATP channelopathies and regulatory defects of glucokinase and glutamate dehydrogenase. Although defects of fatty acid oxidation have not previously been known to cause hyperinsulinism, patients with deficiency in SCHAD (short-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase; an enzyme of mitochondrial β-oxidation) have hyperinsulinism. A novel link between fatty acid oxidation and insulin secretion may explain hyperinsulinism in these patients.

Extending the glucose/fatty acid cycle: a glucose/adipose tissue cycle

It is now recognized that the WAT (white adipose tissue) produces a variety of bioactive peptides, collectively termed ‘adipokines’. Alteration of WAT mass in obesity or lipoatrophy affects the production of most adipose secreted factors. Since both conditions are associated with insulin resistance, the idea has emerged that certain adipokines might influence insulin action. Among these, tumour necrosis factor α, interleukin-6 and resistin are increased in the obese state and interfere negatively with insulin-mediated processes. Conversely, leptin and adiponectin exert an insulin-sensitizing effect, at least in part by favouring tissue fatty-acid oxidation through AMP-activated kinase activation. Obesity-induced insulin resistance has been linked to leptin resistance and decreased plasma adiponectin, while administration of leptin and adiponectin normalizes plasma levels in lipoatrophic mice and reverses insulin resistance. Thiazolidinedione anti-diabetic agents increase endogenous adiponectin production in rodents and humans, supporting the idea that drugs targeting adipokines might represent a new therapeutic approach to sensitize peripheral tissues to insulin.

The glucose–fatty acid cycle: a physiological perspective

Glucose and fatty acids are the major fuels for mammalian metabolism and it is clearly essential that mechanisms exist for mutual co-ordination of their utilization. The glucose–fatty acid cycle, as it was proposed in 1963, describes one set of mechanisms by which carbohydrate and fat metabolism interact. Since that time, the importance of the glucose–fatty acid cycle has been confirmed repeatedly, in particular by elevation of plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentrations and demonstration of an impairment of glucose utilization. Since 1963 further means have been elucidated by which glucose and fatty acids interact. These include stimulation of hepatic glucose output by fatty acids, potentiation of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by fatty acids, and the cellular mechanism whereby high glucose and insulin concentrations inhibit fatty acid oxidation via malonyl-CoA regulation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1. The last of these mechanisms, discovered by Denis McGarry and Daniel Foster in 1977, provides an almost exact complement to the mechanism described in the glucose–fatty acid cycle whereby high concentrations of fatty acids inhibit glucose utilization. These additional discoveries have not detracted from the important of the glucose–fatty acid cycle: rather, they have reinforced the importance of mechanisms whereby glucose and fat can interact.