👤 Fausto Machicao

It has not been solved whether subjects carrying the minor alleles of the -455T>C or -482C>T single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the apolipoprotein-C3-gene (APOC3) have an increased risk for developing fatty liver and insulin resistance. We investigated the relationships of the SNPs with hepatic APOC3 expression and hypothesized that visceral obesity may modulate the effects of these SNPs on liver fat and insulin sensitivity (IS). APOC3 mRNA expression and triglyceride content were determined in liver biopsies from 50 subjects. In a separate group (N=330) liver fat was measured by (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy. IS was estimated during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and the euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic clamp (N=222). APOC3 mRNA correlated positively with triglyceride content in liver biopsies (r=0.29, P=0.036). Carriers of the minor alleles (-455C and -482T) tended to have higher hepatic APOC3 mRNA expression (1.80 (0.45-3.56) vs 0.77 (0.40-1.64), P=0.09), but not higher triglyceride content (P=0.76). In 330 subjects the genotype did not correlate with liver fat (P=0.97) or IS (OGTT: P=0.41; clamp: P=0.99). However, a significant interaction of the genotype with waist circumference in determining liver fat was detected (P=0.02) in which minor allele carriers had higher liver fat only in the lowest tertile of waist circumference (P=0.01). In agreement, during a 9-month lifestyle intervention the minor allele carriers of the SNP -482C>T in the lowest tertile also had less decrease in liver fat (P=0.04). APOC3 mRNA expression is increased in fatty liver and is regulated by SNPs in APOC3. The impact of the APOC3 SNPs on fatty liver is small and depends on visceral obesity. Show less

Recent meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies revealed new genetic loci associated with fasting glycemia. For several of these loci, the mechanism of action in glucose homeostasis is unclear. The objective of the study was to establish metabolic phenotypes for these genetic variants to deliver clues to their pathomechanism. In this cross-sectional study 1782 non-diabetic volunteers at increased risk for type 2 diabetes underwent an oral glucose tolerance test. Insulin, C-peptide and proinsulin were measured and genotyping was performed for 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in or near the genes GCK (rs4607517), DGKB (rs2191349), GCKR (rs780094), ADCY5 (rs11708067), MADD (rs7944584), ADRA2A (rs10885122), FADS1 (rs174550), CRY2 (rs11605924), SLC2A2 (rs11920090), PROX1 (rs340874), GLIS3 (rs7034200) and C2CD4B (rs11071657). Parameters of insulin secretion (AUC Insulin(0-30)/AUC Glucose(0-30), AUC C-peptide(0-120)/AUC Glucose(0-120)), proinsulin-to-insulin conversion (fasting proinsulin, fasting proinsulin/insulin, AUC Proinsulin(0-120)/AUCInsulin(0-120)) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR, Matsuda-Index) were assessed. After adjustment for confounding variables, the effect alleles of the ADCY5 and MADD SNPs were associated with an impaired proinsulin-to-insulin conversion (p = 0.002 and p = 0.0001, respectively). GLIS3 was nominally associated with impaired proinsulin-to-insulin conversion and insulin secretion. The diabetogenic alleles of DGKB and PROX1 were nominally associated with reduced insulin secretion. Nominally significant effects on insulin sensitivity could be found for MADD and PROX1. By examining parameters of glucose-stimulated proinsulin-to-insulin conversion during an OGTT, we show that the SNP in ADCY5 is implicated in defective proinsulin-to-insulin conversion. In addition, we confirmed previous findings on the role of a genetic variant in MADD on proinsulin-to-insulin conversion. These effects may also be related to neighboring regions of the genome. Show less

The liver X receptors (LXRs)-α and -β play a crucial role in control of insulin production and secretion in pancreatic β-cells. We hypothesized that common variants in the NR1H2 and NR1H3 genes, encoding LXR-β and -α, respectively, may alter pancreatic β-cell function. One thousand five hundred seventy-four subjects of European ancestry with elevated risk for type 2 diabetes were genotyped for the two NR1H2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs2248949 and rs1405655 and for the four NR1H3 SNPs rs11039149, rs3758673, rs12221497 and rs2279238, and association studies with metabolic traits were performed. Metabolic characterization comprised an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in all participants and, in addition, a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp and an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) in subsets. One hundred per cent of common genetic variation (minor allele frequency ≥1%) within the NR1H2 and NR1H3 loci (D' = 1.0; r² ≥ 0.8) were covered by the six chosen tagging SNPs. NR1H2 rs2248949 was nominally associated with OGTT-derived first-phase insulin secretion and proinsulin conversion to insulin and significantly associated with the AUC of insulin levels during the IVGTT (p = 0.007) after adjustment for age, gender, BMI and insulin sensitivity in the dominant model, with the minor allele conferring reduced pancreatic β-cell function to the carriers. In subjects of European ancestry at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, common variation within the NR1H2 gene impaired insulin secretion, which may facilitate the development of type 2 diabetes. Show less