glucagon-like-peptide-1-(7-36)amide and Weight-Gain

The hypothesis tested in the present study is that dietary fructans are able to modulate gastrointestinal peptides involved in the control of food intake, namely glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 (7-36) amide and ghrelin. After 3 weeks of treatment with a standard diet (control) or the same diet enriched with 100 g fructans varying in their degrees of polymerization (oligofructose (OFS), Synergy 1 (Syn) or long chain inulin)/kg, male Wistar rats were deprived of food for 8 h before sample collection. Dietary energy intake throughout the experiment was significantly lower (P<0.05) in fructans-fed rats than in control rats, leading to a significant decrease (P<0.01) in epidydimal fat mass at the end of the treatment in OFS- and Syn-treated rats. GLP-1 (7-36) amide concentration in portal vein serum was higher in OFS- and Syn-fed than in control rats. Both GLP-1 (7-36) amide concentration and proglucagon mRNA concentrations were significantly greater (P<0.05) in the proximal colonic mucosa of fructans-fed rats v. controls. Normally active ghrelin concentration in plasma increases during food deprivation and rapidly falls during a meal. In the present study, after 8 h of food deprivation, active ghrelin in the plasma remained significantly lower (P<0.05) in OFS and Syn-fed than in control rats. These results are in accordance with the modifications of dietary intake and fat-mass development in short-chain fructans-treated rats and demonstrate the potential modulation of GLP-1 (7-36) amide and ghrelin by fermentable fibres such as fructans, which are rapidly and extensively fermented in the proximal part of the colon.

Topics: Animals; Appetite Regulation; Cecum; Colon; Diet; Eating; Energy Intake; Ghrelin; Glucagon; Glucagon-Like Peptide 1; Glucagon-Like Peptides; Inulin; Male; Organ Size; Peptide Fragments; Peptide Hormones; Proglucagon; Protein Precursors; Rats; Rats, Wistar; RNA, Messenger; Weight Gain

Recent studies into the physiology of the incretins glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) have added stimulation of beta-cell growth, differentiation, and cell survival to well-documented, potent insulinotropic effects. Unfortunately, the therapeutic potential of these hormones is limited by their rapid enzymatic inactivation in vivo by dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DP IV). Inhibition of DP IV, so as to enhance circulating incretin levels, has proved effective in the treatment of type 2 diabetes both in humans and in animal models, stimulating improvements in glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and beta-cell function. We hypothesized that enhancement of the cytoprotective and beta-cell regenerative effects of GIP and GLP-1 might extend the therapeutic potential of DP IV inhibitors to include type 1 diabetes. For testing this hypothesis, male Wistar rats, exposed to a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ; 50 mg/kg), were treated twice daily with the DP IV inhibitor P32/98 for 7 weeks. Relative to STZ-injected controls, P32/98-treated animals displayed increased weight gain (230%) and nutrient intake, decreased fed blood glucose ( approximately 26 vs. approximately 20 mmol/l, respectively), and a return of plasma insulin values toward normal (0.07 vs. 0.12 nmol/l, respectively). Marked improvements in oral glucose tolerance, suggesting enhanced insulin secretory capacity, were corroborated by pancreas perfusion and insulin content measurements that revealed two- to eightfold increases in both secretory function and insulin content after 7 weeks of treatment. Immunohistochemical analyses of pancreatic sections showed marked increases in the number of small islets (+35%) and total beta-cells (+120%) and in the islet beta-cell fraction (12% control vs. 24% treated) in the treated animals, suggesting that DP IV inhibitor treatment enhanced islet neogenesis, beta-cell survival, and insulin biosynthesis. In vitro studies using a beta-(INS-1) cell line showed a dose-dependent prevention of STZ-induced apoptotic cell-death by both GIP and GLP-1, supporting a role for the incretins in eliciting the in vivo results. These novel findings provide evidence to support the potential utility of DP IV inhibitors in the treatment of type 1 and possibly late-stage type 2 diabetes.

Topics: Animals; Blood Glucose; Cell Count; Cell Differentiation; Cell Division; Cell Survival; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4; Eating; Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide; Glucagon; Glucagon-Like Peptide 1; Glucagon-Like Peptides; Glucose Tolerance Test; Immunohistochemistry; Insulin; Insulin Secretion; Islets of Langerhans; Lipids; Liver; Male; Peptide Fragments; Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (GTP); Protease Inhibitors; Protein Precursors; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Weight Gain