Hepatic glucose production is more sensitive to insulin-mediated inhibition than hepatic VLDL-triglyceride production

Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Dec;291(6):E1360-4. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00188.2006. Epub 2006 Jul 18.

Abstract

Insulin is an important inhibitor of both hepatic glucose output and hepatic VLDL-triglyceride (VLDL-TG) production. We investigated whether both processes are equally sensitive to insulin-mediated inhibition. To test this, we used euglycemic clamp studies with four increasing plasma concentrations of insulin in wild-type C57Bl/6 mice. By extrapolation, we estimated that half-maximal inhibition of hepatic glucose output and hepatic VLDL-TG production by insulin were obtained at plasma insulin levels of approximately 3.6 and approximately 6.8 ng/ml, respectively. In the same experiments, we measured that half-maximal decrease of plasma free fatty acid levels and half-maximal stimulation of peripheral glucose uptake were reached at plasma insulin levels of approximately 3.0 and approximately 6.0 ng/ml, respectively. We conclude that, compared with insulin sensitivity of hepatic glucose output, peripheral glucose uptake and hepatic VLDL-TG production are less sensitive to insulin.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Blood Glucose / metabolism
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / blood
  • Glucose / biosynthesis*
  • Glucose Clamp Technique
  • Hypoglycemic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Insulin / blood
  • Insulin / pharmacology*
  • Kinetics
  • Lipoproteins, VLDL / biosynthesis*
  • Liver / drug effects
  • Liver / metabolism*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Triglycerides / biosynthesis*

Substances

  • Blood Glucose
  • Fatty Acids, Nonesterified
  • Hypoglycemic Agents
  • Insulin
  • Lipoproteins, VLDL
  • Triglycerides
  • Glucose