Abstract

BACKGROUND
Insulin resistance and oxidative stress have been reported to play essential pathophysiological roles in diabetic cardiovascular complication. The relationship between insulin resistance and oxidative stress in vasculature remains unclear. The study was conducted to assess whether oxidative stress induce vascular insulin resistance in OLETF rat, a model of type 2 diabetes METHODS: We used OLETF rats (20/30/40 weeks, n = 5/5/5), as models of type 2 DM, and LETO rats (20/30/40 weeks, n = 5/5/5) as controls. Aortas of each rats were extracted. Superoxide anion production was detected by NBT assay and lucigenin assay. 8-hydroxyguanosine (OHdG) and nitrotyrosine were detected as markers of oxidative stress in 20 and 40 weeks groups. The glucose uptake of aortas was measured by detecting 2-deoxyglucose uptake in both groups. The expression of IR, IRS-1, PI3-K and Akt/PKB were detected by immuno precipitation and immunoblotting in 20, 30 and 40 weeks groups RESULTS: Superoxide anion production and markers of oxidative stress (8-OHdG, nitrotyrosine) were significantly increased in aortas of OLETF rats compared with controls. Aortas of OLETF rats exhibited decreased IRS-1 content and increased phosphorylation of IRS-1 at Ser307 compared with LETO rats. There were no significant differences in expressions of IR, PI3-K and Akt/PKB between two groups CONCLUSION: These results suggest that oxidative stress induces insulin resistance in vasculature of OLETF rat specifically through increasing serine phosphorylation of IRS-1 and its degradation by a proteasome-dependent pathway, providing an alternative mechanism that may explain the association with insulin resistance and diabetic vascular complications.

• Keywords: Aorta;Insulin resistance;IRS-1;Oxidative stress;