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Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
 124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that leads to complications including heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and nerve damage. Type 2 diabetes, characterized by target-tissue resistance to insulin, is epidemic in industrialized societies and is strongly associated with obesity; however, the mechanism by which increased adiposity causes insulin resistance is unclear. Here we show that adipocytes secrete a unique signalling molecule, which we have named resistin (for resistance to insulin). Circulating resistin levels are decreased by the anti-diabetic drug rosiglitazone, and increased in diet-induced and genetic forms of obesity. Administration of anti-resistin antibody improves blood sugar and insulin action in mice with diet-induced obesity. Moreover, treatment of normal mice with recombinant resistin impairs glucose tolerance and insulin action. Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake by adipocytes is enhanced by neutralization of resistin and is reduced by resistin treatment. Resistin is thus a hormone that potentially links obesity to diabetes.
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PMID:The hormone resistin links obesity to diabetes. 1120 21

Resistin was recently identified as a hormone secreted by adipocytes which leads to insulin resistance in vivo and in vitro and might therefore be an important link between obesity and diabetes. To clarify the regulation of resistin gene expression, 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with various agents known to modulate insulin sensitivity, and resistin mRNA was measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Interestingly, isoproterenol treatment reduced the level of resistin mRNA to 20% of non-treated control cells. This effect was dose-dependent with significant inhibition occurring at concentrations as low as 10 nM isoproterenol. Moreover, pretreatment of adipocytes with the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol almost completely reversed the inhibitory effect of isoproterenol, whereas addition of the alpha-adrenergic antagonist phentolamine did not have any effect. Furthermore, the effect of isoproterenol could be mimicked by activation of G(S)-proteins and adenylyl cyclase. Thus, both cholera toxin and forskolin decreased resistin mRNA expression in a dose-dependent fashion by up to 90% of control levels. Taken together, these results suggest that resistin gene expression is regulated by a protein kinase A-dependent pathway in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.
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PMID:Isoproterenol inhibits resistin gene expression through a G(S)-protein-coupled pathway in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. 1143 27

Resistin is secreted by rodent fat cells and was recently postulated to be an important link between obesity and insulin resistance. We examined Resistin gene expression with real-time RT-PCR in human isolated fat cells, adipose tissue, and muscle from 42 individuals of varying degrees of overweight and who had normal insulin sensitivity or were insulin-resistant or Type 2 diabetic. Resistin was not expressed in human muscle nor was it expressed in most human isolated fat cells or intact biopsies. No difference was found between normal, insulin-resistant, or Type 2 diabetic samples. However, a very low but specific Resistin expression could be demonstrated in isolated fat cells and intact adipose tissue from some individuals (n = 3 and n = 4, respectively). There was no evidence for the expression of splice variants in the human samples. Thus, Resistin does not seem to be an important link to insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes in human.
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PMID:Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are not related to resistin expression in human fat cells or skeletal muscle. 1144 81

Recent studies in murine models suggest that resistin (also called Fizz3 [1]), a novel cysteine-rich protein secreted by adipocytes, may represent the long-sought link between obesity and insulin resistance (2). Furthermore, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) agonists appear to inhibit resistin expression in murine adipocytes, providing a possible explanation for the mode of action of this class of insulin sensitizers (2). Using a fluorescent real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction-based assay, we found that resistin mRNA levels in whole adipose tissue samples were increased in morbidly obese humans compared with lean control subjects. However, in freshly isolated human adipocytes, resistin mRNA levels were very low and showed no correlation with BMI. Resistin mRNA was undetectable in preadipocytes, endothelial cells, and vascular smooth muscle cells, but it was readily detectable in circulating mononuclear cells. Although exposure of human mononuclear cells to PPAR-gamma agonists markedly upregulated fatty acid-binding protein-4 expression, these agents had no effect on mononuclear cell resistin expression. Finally, resistin mRNA was undetectable in adipocytes from a severely insulin-resistant subject with a dominant-negative mutation in PPAR-gamma (3). We conclude that the recently described relationships of murine resistin/Fizz3 expression with obesity, insulin resistance, and PPAR-gamma action may not readily translate to humans. Further studies of this novel class of proteins are needed to clarify their roles in human metabolism.
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PMID:Resistin / Fizz3 expression in relation to obesity and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma action in humans. 1157 98

The traditional role attributed to white adipose tissue is energy storage, fatty acids being released when fuel is required. The metabolic role of white fat is, however, complex. For example, the tissue is needed for normal glucose homeostasis and a role in inflammatory processes has been proposed. A radical change in perspective followed the discovery of leptin; this critical hormone in energy balance is produced principally by white fat, giving the tissue an endocrine function. Leptin is one of a number of proteins secreted from white adipocytes, which include angiotensinogen, adipsin, acylation-stimulating protein, adiponectin, retinol-binding protein, tumour neorosis factor a, interleukin 6, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and tissue factor. Some of these proteins are inflammatory cytokines, some play a role in lipid metabolism, while others are involved in vascular haemostasis or the complement system. The effects of specific proteins maybe autocrine or paracrine, or the site of action maybe distant from adipose tissue. The most recently described adipocyte secretory proteins are fasting-induced adipose factor, a fibrinogen-angiopoietin-related protein, metallothionein and resistin. Resistin is an adipose tissue-specific factor which is reported to induce insulin resistance, linking diabetes to obesity. Metallothionein is a metal-binding and stress-response protein which may have an antioxidant role. The key challenges in establishing the secretory functions of white fat are to identify the complement of secreted proteins, to establish the role of each secreted protein, and to assess the pathophysiological consequences of changes in adipocyte protein production with alterations in adiposity (obesity, fasting, cachexia). There is already considerable evidence of links between increased production of some adipocyte factors and the metabolic and cardiovascular complications of obesity. In essence, white adipose tissue is a major secretory and endocrine organ involved in a range of functions beyond simple fat storage.
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PMID:Physiological role of adipose tissue: white adipose tissue as an endocrine and secretory organ. 1168 7

Expression of the gene encoding resistin, a low molecular weight protein secreted from adipose tissue postulated to link obesity and type II diabetes, was examined in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Resistin mRNA was detected in 3T3-L1 cells by day 3 following induction of differentiation into adipocytes; by day 4 the level of resistin mRNA peaked and remained high. The PPARgamma activators, rosiglitazone or darglitazone, reduced the level of resistin mRNA. Dexamethasone upregulated resistin mRNA level, but no effect was observed with the beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonist, BRL 37344. A substantial reduction in resistin mRNA level was observed with insulin, which induced decreases at physiological concentrations. Insulin may be a major inhibitor of resistin production, and this does not support a role for resistin in insulin resistance.
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PMID:Inhibition by insulin of resistin gene expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. 1168 67

Resistin has recently been implicated as an adipocytokine leading to insulin resistance and, therefore, potentially linking obesity and diabetes. To further characterize the regulation of this fat-secreted protein by insulin sensitivity-modulating hormones, 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha, angiotensin (AT) 2, as well as growth hormone (GH), and resistin gene expression and protein secretion were determined by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. Interestingly, both, resistin mRNA expression and protein secretion, were inhibited by 70-90% after TNFalpha-treatment whereas AT2 and GH did not have any effect. The inhibitory effect of TNFalpha was time- and dose-dependent with significant inhibition occurring as early as 4 h after effector addition and at concentrations as low as 1 ng/ml TNFalpha. Pharmacological inhibition of protein kinase A (PKA), p44/42, and p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase did not reverse the inhibitory effect of TNFalpha suggesting that neither of these signaling molecules is involved in suppression of resistin gene expression by TNFalpha. Furthermore, suppression of resistin mRNA levels could be completely reversed to control levels by withdrawal of TNFalpha for 24 h. Taken together, these results suggest that TNFalpha is a pivotal negative regulator of resistin gene expression. This may have important implications for the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and its link to obesity.
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PMID:Tumor necrosis factor alpha is a negative regulator of resistin gene expression and secretion in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. 1168 13

Resistin, the peptide specifically secreted from adipocytes, is a hormone antagonistic to insulin action and, thus, may serve as a link between human obesity due to adiposity and insulin resistance associated with type 2 diabetes. To test this hypothesis, we studied the gene expression of resistin in adipocytes isolated from rats fed with a fructose diet which induced insulin resistance. Compared to the control rats (C) on a normal chow diet, the fructose-fed rats (F) developed hyperinsulinemia, glucose intolerance, hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension, a profile reminiscent of the syndrome X of patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). The F rats had significantly elevated plasma free fatty acids (FFA), enlarged epididymal fat pads, and increased adipocyte size compared with the C rats. We examined the glucose transport and the relative quantity of resistin mRNA produced in the adipocytes of these two groups of rats. Compared to the C rats, the F rats had a clearly reduced insulin-stimulated glucose transport. The gene expression of resistin and other adipocyte peptides was measured on the mRNA by semiquantitative RT-PCR; the validity of this technique was established in advance with a rat-fasting and then refeeding experiment. The F rats showed a decreased expression of the resistin gene, whereas gene expression of leptin and angiotensinogen in contrast increased. Free fatty acids were found to suppress the expression of resistin gene in normal rat adipocytes. These results demonstrate that an insulin-resistant instance in the fructose diet rat model exists with the decreased gene expression of resistin.
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PMID:Suppressed gene expression of adipocyte resistin in an insulin-resistant rat model probably by elevated free fatty acids. 1174 41

Obesity is a major risk factor for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Adipocytes secrete numerous substances that might contribute to peripheral insulin sensitivity. These include leptin, tumor necrosis factor alpha, Acrp30/adiponectin/adipoQ and interleukin 6, the potential roles of which are briefly reviewed here. Thiazolidinedione (TZD) antidiabetic drugs regulate gene transcription by binding to peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma, a nuclear hormone receptor found at its highest levels in adipocytes. A search for genes that are downregulated by TZDs in mouse adipocytes led to the discovery of an adipose-specific secreted protein called resistin. Resistin circulates in the mouse, with increased levels in obesity, and has effects on glucose homeostasis that oppose those of insulin. Thus, resistin is a potential link between TZDs, obesity and insulin resistance in the mouse. Future studies must address the mechanism of action and biological role of resistin and related family members in mice and humans.
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PMID:Resistin and obesity-associated insulin resistance. 1175 Aug 58

Resistin, an adipocyte-derived cytokine, causes insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in mice. We investigated whether resistin expression was higher in human abdominal adipose tissue than other adipose tissue depots. We extracted RNA from 32 adipose tissue samples (13 subcutaneous abdominal, seven omentum, six thigh, and six breast). Quantitative PCR was used to determine resistin mRNA expression. Resistin mRNA concentrations were similar in both the subcutaneous abdominal and omental depots. The abdominal depots showed a 418% increase in resistin mRNA expression compared with the thigh. Increased resistin expression in abdominal fat could explain the increased risk of type 2 diabetes associated with central obesity.
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PMID:Resistin, central obesity, and type 2 diabetes. 1180 89


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