Longitudinal analysis of hepatic transcriptome and serum metabolome demonstrates altered lipid metabolism following the onset of hyperglycemia in spontaneously diabetic biobreeding rats.

Regnell SE, Hessner MJ, Jia S, Åkesson L, Stenlund H, Moritz T, La Torre D, Lernmark Å

PLoS ONE 12 (2) e0171372 [2017-02-13; online 2017-02-13]

Type 1 diabetes is associated with abberations of fat metabolism before and after the clinical onset of disease. It has been hypothesized that the absence of the effect of insulin in the liver contributes to reduced hepatic fat synthesis. We measured hepatic gene expression and serum metabolites before and after the onset of hyperglycemia in a BioBreeding rat model of type 1 diabetes. Functional pathway annotation identified that lipid metabolism was differentially expressed in hyperglycemic rats and that these pathways significantly overlapped with genes regulated by insulin. 17 serum metabolites significantly changed in concentration. All but 2 of the identified metabolites had previously been reported in type 1 diabetes, and carbohydrates were overall the most upregulated class of metabolites. We conclude that lack of insulin in the liver contributes to the changes in fat metabolism observed in type 1 diabetes. Further studies are needed to understand the clinical consequences of a lack of insulin in the liver in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Swedish Metabolomics Centre (SMC) [Collaborative]

PubMed 28192442

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0171372

Crossref 10.1371/journal.pone.0171372

pmc: PMC5305198
pii: PONE-D-16-35507