Adipose tissue is required for the antidiabetic, but not for the hypolipidemic, effect of thiazolidinediones.

Abstract

There is uncertainty about the site(s) of action of the antidiabetic thiazolidinediones (TZDs). These drugs are agonist ligands of the transcription factor PPAR gamma, which is abundant in adipose tissue but is normally present at very low levels in liver and muscle. We have studied the effects of TZDs in A-ZIP/F-1 mice, which lack white adipose tissue. The A-ZIP/F-1 phenotype strikingly resembles that of humans with severe lipoatrophic diabetes, including the lack of fat, marked insulin resistance and hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and fatty liver. Rosiglitazone or troglitazone treatment did not reduce glucose or insulin levels, suggesting that white adipose tissue is required for the antidiabetic effects of TZDs. However, TZD treatment was effective in lowering circulating triglycerides and increasing whole body fatty acid oxidation in the A-ZIP/F-1 mice, indicating that this effect occurs via targets other than white adipose tissue. A-ZIP/F-1 mice have markedly increased liver PPAR gamma mRNA levels, which may be a general property of fatty livers. Rosiglitazone treatment increased the triglyceride content of the steatotic livers of A-ZIP/F-1 and ob/ob mice, but not the "lean" livers of fat-transplanted A-ZIP/F-1 mice. In light of this evidence that rosiglitazone acts differently in steatotic livers, the effects of rosiglitazone, particularly on hepatic triglyceride levels, should be examined in humans with hepatic steatosis.

• Authors: L Chao, B Marcus-Samuels, M M Mason, J Moitra, C Vinson, E Arioglu, O Gavrilova, M L Reitman
• Journal: The Journal of clinical investigation (J Clin Invest) Vol. 106 Issue 10 Pg. 1221-8 (Nov 2000) ISSN: 0021-9738 [Print] United States
• PMID: 11086023 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.)

Chemical References

• Blood Glucose
• Chromans
• Hypoglycemic Agents
• Insulin
• Ligands
• Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear
• Thiazoles
• Thiazolidinediones
• Transcription Factors
• Triglycerides
• Rosiglitazone
• 2,4-thiazolidinedione
• Troglitazone

Topics

• Adipose Tissue (physiology)
• Animals
• Blood Glucose
• Chromans (therapeutic use)
• Diabetes Mellitus, Lipoatrophic (drug therapy, metabolism)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Female
• Hypoglycemic Agents (therapeutic use)
• Insulin (metabolism)
• Ligands
• Liver (metabolism)
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Mice, Transgenic
• Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear (genetics)
• Respiratory Function Tests
• Rosiglitazone
• Thiazoles (therapeutic use)
• Thiazolidinediones
• Transcription Factors (genetics)
• Triglycerides (metabolism)
• Troglitazone