Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus are world-wide health problems, and lack of understanding of their linking mechanism is one reason for limited treatment options. We determined if genetic deletion of vimentin, a type 3 intermediate filament, affects obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
We fed vimentin-null (
We concluded that vimentin deficiency prevents obesity and insulin resistance in mice fed an HFD and suggest vimentin as a central mediator linking obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
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Impaired β-cell function is the key pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and chronic exposure of nutrient excess could lead to this tragedy. For preserving β-cell function, it is essential to understand the cause and mechanisms about the progression of β-cells failure. Glucotoxicity, lipotoxicity, and glucolipotoxicity have been suggested to be a major cause of β-cell dysfunction for decades, but not yet fully understood. Fatty acid translocase cluster determinant 36 (CD36), which is part of the free fatty acid (FFA) transporter system, has been identified in several tissues such as muscle, liver, and insulin-producing cells. Several studies have reported that induction of CD36 increases uptake of FFA in several cells, suggesting the functional interplay between glucose and FFA in terms of insulin secretion and oxidative metabolism. However, we do not currently know the regulating mechanism and physiological role of CD36 on glucolipotoxicity in pancreatic β-cells. Also, the downstream and upstream targets of CD36 related signaling have not been defined. In the present review, we will focus on the expression and function of CD36 related signaling in the pancreatic β-cells in response to hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia (ceramide) along with the clinical studies on the association between CD36 and metabolic disorders.
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Membrane CD36 is a fatty acid transporter implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic disease. We aimed to evaluate the association between plasma CD36 levels and diabetes risk and to examine if the association was independent of adiposity among Danish population.
We conducted a case-cohort study nested within the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health study among participants free of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer and with blood samples and anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist circumference, and body fat percentage) at baseline (1993 to 1997). CD36 levels were measured in 647 incident diabetes cases that occurred before December 2011 and a total of 3,515 case-cohort participants (236 cases overlap).
Higher plasma CD36 levels were associated with higher diabetes risk after adjusting for age, sex and other lifestyle factors. The hazard ratio (HR) comparing high versus low tertile of plasma CD36 levels was 1.36 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00 to 1.86). However, the association lost its significance after further adjustment for different adiposity indices such as body mass index (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 0.87 to 1.73), waist circumference (HR, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.68) or body fat percentage (HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.86 to 1.66). Moreover, raised plasma CD36 levels were moderately associated with diabetes risk among lean participants, but the association was not present among overweight/obese individuals.
Higher plasma CD36 levels were associated with higher diabetes risk, but the association was not independent of adiposity. In this Danish population, the association of CD36 with diabetes risk could be either mediated or confounded by adiposity.
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