Decreased expression of hepatic glucokinase in type 2 diabetes

Identifier:  imarina:9293243

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9293243

Authors:  Haeusler, Rebecca A; Camastra, Stefania; Astiarraga, Brenno; Nannipieri, Monica; Anselmino, Marco; Ferrannini, Ele

Abstract:
Background/objectives: Increased endogenous glucose production is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes. Evidence from animal models has suggested that a likely cause of this is increased mRNA expression of glucose 6-phosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (encoded by G6PC, PCK1 and PCK2). But another contributing factor may be decreased liver glucokinase (encoded by GCK).Methods: We examined expression of these enzymes in liver biopsies from 12 nondiabetic and 28 diabetic individuals. Diabetic patients were further separated into those with HbA1c lower or higher than 7.0.Results: In diabetic subjects with HbA1c > 7.0, we found that gluconeogenic enzymes were expressed normally, but GCK was suppressed more than 60%. Moreover, HbA1c and fasting glucose were negatively correlated with GCK, but showed no correlation with G6PC, PCK1, or PCK2.Conclusion: These findings suggest an underlying dysregulation of hepatic GCK expression during frank diabetes, which has implications for the therapeutic use of glucokinase activators in this population. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).