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Query: UMLS:C0011849 (diabetes)
 277,896 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The addition of L-cysteine to hepatic cytosols causes inactivation of tyrosine aminotransferase. We have studied the mechanism of inactivation and the effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in the rat on the inactivation of tyrosine aminotransferase in the presence of fractions prepared from livers and kidneys. Diabetes increased the rate at which tyrosine aminotransferase was inactivated after addition of cysteine to hepatic cytosols. The inactivation was due to the production of thiocysteine (which contains sulfane sulfur) from cystine as a result of desulfuration catalyzed by gamma-cystathionase. Diabetes increased the content of cystathionine beta-synthase and gamma-cystathionase in liver. As a result, cytosols from diabetic animals converted homocysteine, cystathionine, cysteine and cystine to sulfane at an elevated rate, with resulting inactivation of tyrosine aminotransferase. In contrast, inactivation in kidney fractions was not affected by diabetes. Incubation with an inhibitor of gamma-cystathionase (propargylglycine) prevented inactivation of tyrosine aminotransferase. These results show that the potential for the formation of sulfane sulfur by the enzymes of the transsulfuration pathway is enhanced by chronic diabetes.
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PMID:Experimental diabetes increases the formation of sulfane by transsulfuration and inactivation of tyrosine aminotransferase in cytosols from rat liver. 256 58

An elevation in the concentration of total plasma homocysteine is known to be an independent risk factor for the development of vascular disease. Alterations in homocysteine metabolism have also been observed clinically in diabetic patients. Patients with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes who have signs of renal dysfunction tend to exhibit elevated total plasma homocysteine levels, whereas type 1 diabetic patients who have no clinical signs of renal dysfunction have lower than normal plasma homocysteine levels. The purpose of this study was to investigate homocysteine metabolism in a type 1 diabetic animal model and to examine whether insulin plays a role in its regulation. Diabetes was induced by intravenous administration of 100 mg/kg streptozotocin to Sprague-Dawley rats. We observed a 30% reduction in plasma homocysteine in the untreated diabetic rat. This decrease in homocysteine was prevented when diabetic rats received insulin. Transsulfuration and remethylation enzymes were measured in both the liver and the kidney. We observed an increase in the activities of the hepatic transsulfuration enzymes (cystathionine beta-synthase and cystathionine gamma-lyase) in the untreated diabetic rat. Insulin treatment normalized the activities of these enzymes. The renal activities of these enzymes were unchanged. These results suggest that insulin is involved in the regulation of plasma homocysteine concentrations by affecting the hepatic transsulfuration pathway, which is involved in the catabolism of homocysteine.
Diabetes 1998 Dec
PMID:Effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes and of insulin treatment on homocysteine metabolism in the rat. 983 32

Hyperhomocysteinemia is a well established risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and multiple factors likely lead to abnormal regulation of plasma homocysteine in patients with diabetes. To examine a possible role for insulin and glucose in homocysteine metabolism, we examined the activity of two important enzymes of homocysteine metabolism in hepatocytes. In various tissues of six mice, methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) activity was present in all tissues tested and the highest concentration (per gram) was in the brain. In contrast, cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) activity appeared to be present only in the liver and to a small extent in the kidney. Using HEP G2 cells in culture, MTHFR activity was 3.3+/-0.8 nmol/h when the glucose concentration in the medium was 100 mg/dl and fell to 2.3+/-0.3 nmol/h when glucose was increased to 300 mg/dl. MTHFR activity was 3.4+/-0.3 nmol/h when cells were exposed to an insulin concentration of 5 mU/ml and fell to 2.8+/-0.3 nmol/h when insulin concentration was increased to 200 mU/ml (P<0.01). In contrast CBS activity increased from 0.017 to 0.13 U/ml by increasing the glucose concentration in the medium (P<0.01), but decreased from 0.04 to 0.02 (P<0.01) when the insulin concentration was increased from 5 to 200 mU/ml, respectively. We conclude that CBS and MTHFR have different tissue distributions, with CBS being present predominantly in liver and kidney, and MTHFR found in many tissues. In addition, both insulin and glucose affect the activity of the two enzymes when added to hepatocytes in vitro. If such effects occur in humans with hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, then alterations in homocysteine metabolism may contribute to the accelerated macrovascular disease associated with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.
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PMID:The effect of glucose and insulin on the activity of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase and cystathionine-beta-synthase: studies in hepatocytes. 1158 7

Elevated total plasma homocysteine has been established as an independent risk factor for thrombosis and cardiovascular disease. A strong relationship between plasma homocysteine levels and mortality has been reported in patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease. Homocysteine is a thiol containing amino acid. It can be metabolised by different pathways, requiring various enzymes such as cystathionine beta-synthase and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. These reactions also require several co-factors such as vitamin B6 and folate. Medications may interfere with these pathways leading to an alteration of plasma homocysteine levels. Several drugs have been shown to effect homocysteine levels. Some drugs frequently used in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease, such as the fibric acid derivatives used in certain dyslipidaemias and metformin in type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus, also raise plasma homocysteine levels. This elevation poses a theoretical risk of negating some of the benefits of these drugs. The mechanisms by which drugs alter plasma homocysteine levels vary. Drugs such as cholestyramine and metformin interfere with vitamin absorption from the gut. Interference with folate and homocysteine metabolism by methotrexate, nicotinic acid (niacin) and fibric acid derivatives, may lead to increased plasma homocysteine levels. Treatment with folate or vitamins B6 and B12 lowers plasma homocysteine levels effectively and is relatively inexpensive. Although it still remains to be demonstrated that lowering plasma homocysteine levels reduces cardiovascular morbidity, surrogate markers for cardiovascular disease have been shown to improve with treatment of hyperhomocystenaemia. Would drugs like metformin, fibric acid derivatives and nicotinic acid be more effective in lowering cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, if the accompanying hyperhomocysteinaemia is treated? The purpose of this review is to highlight the importance of homocysteine as a risk factor, and examine the role and implications of drug induced modulation of homocysteine metabolism.
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PMID:Drugs affecting homocysteine metabolism: impact on cardiovascular risk. 1189 29

Homocysteine metabolism is altered in diabetic patients. Cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), a key enzyme involved in the transsulfuration pathway, which irreversibly converts homocysteine to cysteine, catalyzes the condensation of serine and homocysteine to cystathionine. Studies in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats have shown that CBS enzyme activity is elevated in the liver but not in the kidney, and this effect is reversed by insulin treatment. To determine whether these effects resulted from alterations at the level of gene transcription, CBS mRNA was measured in diabetic and insulin-treated diabetic rats. CBS mRNA levels were found to be markedly higher in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat livers; these were reduced by insulin administration. In H4IIE cells, a rat hepatoma cell culture model, glucocorticoids increased the cellular levels of CBS enzyme protein and CBS mRNA; insulin inhibited this stimulatory effect. Treatment with insulin also decreased CBS levels in HepG2 cells, a human hepatoma cell line. Nuclear run-on experiments in the rat cells confirmed that stimulation of CBS gene expression by glucocorticoids and the inhibition by insulin occurred at the transcriptional level. Transient transfections of HepG2 cells with a CBS-1b promoter luciferase reporter construct showed that the promoter activity was decreased by 70% after insulin treatment. These results show that insulin has a direct role in regulating homocysteine metabolism. Altered insulin levels in diseases such as diabetes may influence homocysteine metabolism by regulating the hepatic transsulfuration pathway.
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PMID:Hormonal regulation of cystathionine beta-synthase expression in liver. 1219 28

Plasma homocysteine levels are elevated during diabetes when there is atherosclerosis or insufficient renal function; however, diminished plasma homocysteine concentrations are observed in diabetes without complications. Recent studies have demonstrated that under diabetic conditions, the catabolism of homocysteine was enhanced by transcriptional regulation of hepatic cystathionine beta-synthase and these changes were prevented by treatment with insulin.
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PMID:Interrelationship between diabetes and homocysteine metabolism: hormonal regulation of cystathionine beta-synthase. 1279 47

Conserved pairs of CBS sequence motifs (named after cystathionine beta-synthase) found in a wide variety of proteins associate to form Bateman domains. A new study establishes that Bateman domains bind adenosyl compounds and regulate IMP dehydrogenase, CBS, chloride channels, and AMP-activated protein kinase. This discovery reveals how mutations in CBS sequences in these proteins cause hereditary diseases and provides a rich vista of conceptual opportunities for therapies in energy metabolism, obesity, diabetes, cancer, antivirals, and immunosuppression.
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PMID:Bateman domains and adenosine derivatives form a binding contract. 1472 19

CBS domains are defined as sequence motifs that occur in several different proteins in all kingdoms of life. Although thought to be regulatory, their exact functions have been unknown. However, their importance was underlined by findings that mutations in conserved residues within them cause a variety of human hereditary diseases, including (with the gene mutated in parentheses): Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (gamma 2 subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase); retinitis pigmentosa (IMP dehydrogenase-1); congenital myotonia, idiopathic generalized epilepsy, hypercalciuric nephrolithiasis, and classic Bartter syndrome (CLC chloride channel family members); and homocystinuria (cystathionine beta-synthase). AMP-activated protein kinase is a sensor of cellular energy status that is activated by AMP and inhibited by ATP, but the location of the regulatory nucleotide-binding sites (which are prime targets for drugs to treat obesity and diabetes) was not characterized. We now show that tandem pairs of CBS domains from AMP-activated protein kinase, IMP dehydrogenase-2, the chloride channel CLC2, and cystathionine beta-synthase bind AMP, ATP, or S-adenosyl methionine,while mutations that cause hereditary diseases impair this binding. This shows that tandem pairs of CBS domains act, in most cases, as sensors of cellular energy status and, as such, represent a newly identified class of binding domain for adenosine derivatives.
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PMID:CBS domains form energy-sensing modules whose binding of adenosine ligands is disrupted by disease mutations. 1472 9

The hepatic enzyme glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) plays a major role in the control of methyl group and homocysteine metabolism. Because disruption of these vital pathways is associated with numerous pathologies, understanding GNMT control is important for evaluating methyl group regulation. Recently, gluconeogenic conditions have been shown to modulate homocysteine metabolism and treatment with glucocorticoids and/or all-trans-retinoic acid (RA)-induced active GNMT protein, thereby leading to methyl group loss. This study was conducted to determine the effect of diabetes, alone and in combination with RA, on GNMT regulation. Diabetes and RA increased GNMT activity 87 and 148%, respectively. Moreover, the induction of GNMT activity by diabetes and RA was reflected in its abundance. Cell culture studies demonstrated that pretreatment with insulin prevented GNMT induction by both RA and dexamethasone. There was a significant decline in homocysteine concentrations in diabetic rats, owing in part to a 38% increase in the abundance of the transsulfuration enzyme cystathionine beta-synthase; treatment of diabetic rats with RA prevented cystathionine beta-synthase induction. A diabetic state also increased the activity of the folate-independent homocysteine remethylation enzyme betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase, whereas the activity of the folate-dependent enzyme methionine synthase was diminished 52%. In contrast, RA treatment attenuated the streptozotocin-mediated increase in betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase, whereas methionine synthase activity remained diminished. These results indicate that both a diabetic condition and RA treatment have marked effects on the metabolism of methyl groups and homocysteine, a finding that may have significant implications for diabetics and their potential sensitivity to retinoids.
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PMID:Modulation of methyl group metabolism by streptozotocin-induced diabetes and all-trans-retinoic acid. 1534 42

Arteriosclerosis and its complications, such as heart attack and stroke, are the major causes of death in developed countries. It was believed that age, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes and smoking are common risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In addition, overwhelming clinical and epidemiological studies have identified homocysteine (Hcy) as a significant and independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In healthy individuals, plasma Hcy is between 5 and 10 micromol/L. One cause of severe hypehomocys- teinemia (HHcy) is the deficiency of cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), which converts Hcy to cystathionine. CBS homozygous deficiency results in severe HHcy with Hcy levels up to 100 to 500 micromol/L. Patients with severe HHcy usually present with neurological abnormalities, premature arteriosclerosis. It has been reported that lowering plasma Hcy improved endothelial dysfunction and reduced incidence of major adverse events after percutaneous coronary intervention. The mechanisms by which Hcy induces atherosclerosis are largely unknown. Several biological mechanisms have been proposed to explain cardiovascular pathological changes associated with HHcy. These include: (1) endothelial cell damage and impaired endothelial function; (2) dysregulation of cholesterol and triglyceride biosynthesis; (3) stimulation of vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation; (4) thrombosis activation and (5) activation of monocytes. Four major biochemical mechanisms have been proposed to explain the vascular pathology of Hcy. These include: (1) autooxidation through the production of reactive oxygen species; (2) hypomethylation by forming SAH, a potent inhibitor of biological transmethylations; (3) nitrosylation by binding to nitric oxide or (4) protein homocysteinylation by incorporating into protein. In summary, our studies, as well as data from other laboratories support the concept that Hcy is causally linked to atherosclerosis, and is not merely associated with the disease. Although folic acid, vitamin B12 and B6 can lower plasma Hcy levels, the long-term effects on cardiovascular disease risk are still unknown and judgments about therapeutic benefits await the findings of ongoing clinical trials.
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PMID:Hyperhomocysteinemia and atherosclerosis. 1583 93


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