Members of the IL-6 family, IL-6 and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), have been shown to increase glucose uptake and fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle. However, the metabolic effects of another family member, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), are not well characterized. Effects of LIF on skeletal muscle glucose uptake and palmitate oxidation and signaling were investigated in ex vivo i...

Glucose is the brain's principal source of ATP, but the extent to which cerebral glucose consumption (CMRglc) is coupled with its oxygen consumption (CMRO2) remains unclear. Measurements of the brain's oxygen-glucose index OGI = CMRO2/CMRglc suggest that its oxygen uptake largely suffices for oxidative phosphorylation. Nevertheless, during functional activation and in some disease states, brain...

UNLABELLED Sevoflurane activates phospholipase C and protein kinase C, leading to an increase in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration, which modulates glucose transport. We studied in vitro the effect of sevoflurane on the uptake of 2-deoxyglucose in rat skeletal muscle cells and the mechanism that modulates the glucose transport. Sevoflurane 0.8, 1.2, and 2.0 mM significantly increased glucose u...

OBJECTIVE Today, the presence and activity of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans is generally equated with the induced accumulation of [2-18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose ([18F]FDG) in adipose tissues, as investigated by positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. In reality, PET-FDG is currently the only method available for in vivo quantification of BAT activity in adult humans. The un...

Recent experimental data point to an interaction of dietary flavonol monoglucosides with the intestinal Na-dependent glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1). To investigate this interaction in more detail, we performed experiments with SGLT1-containing brush-border-membrane vesicles (BBMV) from pig jejunum. The flavonol quercetin-3-O-glucoside (Q3G) concentration-dependently inhibited Na-dependent uptake...

BACKGROUND There is considerable interest in identifying compounds that can improve glucose homeostasis. Skeletal muscle, due to its large mass, is the principal organ for glucose disposal in the body and we have investigated here if shikonin, a naphthoquinone derived from the Chinese plant Lithospermum erythrorhizon, increases glucose uptake in skeletal muscle cells. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FI...

Reducing dietary fat intake and excess adiposity, the cornerstones of behavioral treatment of insulin resistance (IR), are marginally successful over the long term. Ad36, a human adenovirus, offers a template to improve IR, independent of dietary fat intake or adiposity. Ad36 increases cellular glucose uptake via a Ras-mediated activation of phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase(PI3K), and improves hy...

OBJECTIVE Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) reverses muscle insulin resistance by increasing fatty acid oxidation through gp130-LIF receptor signaling to the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). CNTF also increases Akt signaling in neurons and adipocytes. Because both Akt and AMPK regulate glucose uptake, we investigated muscle glucose uptake in response to CNTF signaling in lean and obese mic...

BACKGROUND Experimental data from isolated rat hearts suggest that glycolysis in severe myocardial ischemia is inhibited by accumulation of glycolytic metabolites. In contrast, positron emission tomography (PET) in patients with myocardial ischemia records a 'mismatch' between the decreased coronary flow in viable ischemic tissue and an increased fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) signal. To resolve th...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Brain arteries are structurally characterized by the tight junctions of the endothelium and by no vasa vasorum that feed arteries themselves. This raises the question of how brain arteries are provided with glucose. A possible explanation is that glucose uptake into arteries may be mediated by both GLUT1, a facilitative glucose transporter, and a Na+/glucose cotransporter...