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Biomedical subjects

J E Henriksen

Publications and source records attributed to J E Henriksen.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Decreased insulin activation of glycogen synthase in skeletal muscles in young nonobese Caucasian first-degree relatives of patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Insulin resistance in non-insulin-dependent diabetes is associated with a defective insulin activation of the enzyme glycogen synthase in skeletal muscles. To investigate whether this may be a primary defect, we studied 20 young (25 +/- 1 yr) Caucasian first-degree relatives (children) of patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes, and 20 matched controls without a family history of diabetes. Relatives and controls had a normal oral glucose tolerance, and were studied by means of the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp technique, which included performance of indirect calorimetry and muscle biopsies. Insulin-stimulated glucose disposal was decreased in the relatives (9.2 +/- 0.6 vs 11.5 +/- 0.5 mg/kg fat-free mass per (FFM) min, P less than 0.02), and was due to a decreased rate of insulin-stimulated nonoxidative glucose metabolism (5.0 +/- 0.5 vs 7.5 +/- 0.4 mg/kg fat-free mass per min, P less than 0.001). The insulin-stimulated, fractional glycogen synthase activity (0.1/10 mmol liter glucose-6-phosphate) was decreased in the relatives (46.9 +/- 2.3 vs 56.4 +/- 3.2%, P less than 0.01), and there was a significant correlation between insulin-stimulated, fractional glycogen synthase activity and nonoxidative glucose metabolism in relatives (r = 0.76, P less than 0.001) and controls (r = 0.63, P less than 0.01). Furthermore, the insulin-stimulated increase in muscle glycogen content over basal values was lower in the relatives (13 +/- 25 vs 46 +/- 9 mmol/kg dry wt, P = 0.05). We conclude that the defect in insulin activation of muscle glycogen synthase may be a primary, possibly genetically determined, defect that contributes to the development of non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

Adult

Insulin resistance in skeletal muscles in patients with NIDDM.

Skeletal muscles in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) are resistant to insulin; i.e., the effect of insulin on glucose disposal is reduced compared with the effect in control subjects. This defect has been found to be localized to the nonoxidative pathway of glucose disposal; hence, the deposition of glucose, as glycogen, is abnormally low. This defect may be inherited, because it is present in first-degree relatives to NIDDM patients two to three decades before they develop frank diabetes mellitus. The cellular defects responsible for the abnormal insulin action in NIDDM patients is reviewed in this article. The paper focuses mainly on convalent insulin signaling. Insulin is postulated to stimulate glucose storage by initiating a cascade of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation events, which results in dephosphorylation and hence activation of the enzyme glycogen synthase. Glycogen synthase is the key enzyme in regulation of glycogen synthesis in the skeletal muscles of humans. This enzyme is sensitive to insulin, but in NIDDM patients it has been shown to be completely resistant to insulin stimulation when measured at euglycemia. The enzyme seems to be locked in the glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P)-dependent inactive D-form. This hypothesis is favored by the finding of reduced activity of the glycogen synthase phosphatase and increased activity of the respective kinase cAMP-dependent protein kinase. A reduced glycogen synthase activity has also been found in normoglycemic first-degree relatives of NIDDM patients, indicating that this abnormality precedes development of hyperglycemia in subjects prone to develop NIDDM. Therefore, this defect may be of primary genetic origin. However, it does not appear to be a defect in the enzyme itself, but rather a defect in the covalent activation of the enzyme system. Glycogen synthase is resistant to insulin but may be activated allosterically by G-6-P. This means that the defect in insulin activation can be compensated for by increased intracellular concentrations of G-6-P. In fact, we found that both hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia are able to increase the G-6-P level in skeletal muscles. Thus, insulin resistance in the nonoxidative pathway of glucose processing can be overcomed (compensated) by hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia. In conclusion, we hypothesize that insulin resistance in skeletal muscles may be a primary genetic defect preceding the diabetic state. The cellular abnormality responsible for that may be a reduced covalent insulin activation of the enzyme glycogen synthase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2

Absorption of NPH (isophane) insulin in resting diabetic patients: evidence for subcutaneous injection in the thigh as the preferred site.

The absorption kinetics of NPH (isophane) insulin injected subcutaneously into the abdominal wall and subcutaneously (SC) and intramuscularly (IM) into the thigh was studied in 11 Type 1 diabetic patients. The thickness of the subcutaneous adipose tissue layer was measured by ultrasound. NPH (isophane) insulin injected IM into the thigh was absorbed faster than NPH insulin injected SC into the thigh (T50%, IM 8.0 +/- 0.6 h and SC 10.3 +/- 0.7 h, p less than 0.05). No difference in T50% values was found for injection into the abdominal wall (9.7 +/- 1.2h) compared with the thigh. The mean absorption rate from 1.5 to 13.5 h after injection was higher after injection IM into the thigh (6.4 +/- 0.3% of initial dose injected absorbed per h) than after SC injection into the thigh (5.2 +/- 0.3% h-1) and SC into the abdominal wall (5.1 +/- 0.3% h-1) (p less than 0.01). The most constant absorption rate was obtained after SC injection into the thigh (within-study day CV of the mean absorption rate 19.9 +/- 3.2% vs 34.4 +/- 3.2% after IM injection into the thigh and 27.1 +/- 4.9% after SC injection into the abdominal wall (p less than 0.02]. The study provides further evidence that the subcutaneous tissue of the thigh is the preferred injection site for NPH insulin.

Absorption

Impairment of glucose tolerance: mechanism of action and impact on the cardiovascular system.

Macrovascular disease, especially coronary heart diseases, have been found to be linked to glucose intolerance. Insulin resistance in respect to glucose uptake in peripheral tissues seems to play an important role in the development of glucose intolerance, since subjects with coronary heart disease mainly are hyperinsulinemic. Insulin resistance may induce not only glucose intolerance but also hypertension, obesity, and dyslipoproteinemia (high very low-density lipoprotein and low high-density lipoprotein values), all variables that add to the risk of coronary heart disease. On the basis of these findings, a new syndrome has been postulated-syndrome X. This syndrome may be caused by inherited insulin resistance in skeletal muscles, and secondary to that arterial hypertension, obesity, and dyslipoproteinemia may develop. Insulin resistance in noninsulin-dependent diabetic persons and in hypertensive subjects is located in skeletal muscles, where insulin's ability to promote nonoxidative glucose metabolism is reduced. The key enzyme in this pathway, glycogen synthase, is proposed as the causal defect responsible for the insulin resistance state, at least in noninsulin-dependent diabetic patients. The pill (sex steroids) may induce a clinical situation that is similar to syndrome X. However, it is important to emphasize that many more studies are needed to substantiate these hypothetical mechanisms behind coronary heart disease.

Blood Glucose

Variation in absorption of NPH insulin due to intramuscular injection.

To evaluate the importance of accidental intramuscular injection of NPH insulin, we measured disappearance rates of 125I-labeled NPH insulin (Protaphane) from subcutaneous and intramuscular injection sites in the thighs of 11 insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients. Both subcutaneous and intramuscular absorption rates were measured four times in each patient. NPH insulin was absorbed much faster when given intramuscularly than when given subcutaneously (T50% = 5.3 vs. 10.3 h, P less than 0.0001). The intrapatient (day-to-day) coefficient of variation (C.V.) of T50% values (C.V. T50%) for subcutaneously injected NPH insulin in this study, where all injections were guided by ultrasound determination of the subcutaneous fat layer, was 18.4%. Intrapatient variation of absorption was significantly lower for subcutaneously than intramuscularly injected NPH insulin (C.V. T50% = 18.4 vs. 29.8%, P less than 0.01) and was also lower than interpatient variation for subcutaneously injected insulin (C.V. T50% = 18.4 vs. 50%, P less than 0.0001). The faster absorption rate and shorter duration of action, together with the higher day-to-day variation in absorption, led us to conclude that intramuscular injection of NPH insulin should be avoided.

Absorption

Blood flow in normal and cholestatic dog liver as measured by intraparenchymal injection of Xenon 133.

Parenchymal liver blood flow as reflected by the wash-out of intraparenchymally injected 133Xe was studied at different stages of total cholestasis in the dog. 248 registrations at 13 laparotomies in 6 mongrel dogs showed that extrahepatic cholestasis had no statistically significant influence on the blood flow as compared to normal. A review of the literature shows little harmony between the results of this and various other studies.

Animals

Wash-out of intraparenchymally injected Xenon-133 as a parameter of liver blood flow in the dog.

The method of intraparenchymal injection of xenon-133 for measurement of blood flow was evaluated for use in the liver. Repeated injections in the same liver gave rise to a great range of flow values, pointing to a heterogeneous liver perfusion. The use of single measurements for determination of liver blood flow with this method is not acceptable. Comparison between different livers is only possible when several injections are made and the results are given a statistical characterization. Flow values obtained generally did not correlate well with values determined by other methods. The method therefore seems suitable only for comparative and qualitative studies.

Animals