Background and objective: Glucose transport via GLUT1 protein could be one of additional mechanisms of the antidiabetic action of sulfonylureas. Here, the GLUT1 gene and the protein expression was studied in rats in the course of severe and mild streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus and under glibenclamide treatment.
Material and methods: Severe and mild diabetes mellitus was induced using different streptozotocin doses and standard or high fat chow. Rats were treated with glibenclamide (2 mg/kg daily, per os for 6 weeks). The therapeutic effect of glibenclamide was monitored by measuring several metabolic parameters. The GLUT1 mRNA and the protein expression in the kidneys, heart, and liver was studied by means of real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.
Results: The glibenclamide treatment decreased the blood glucose concentration and increased the insulin level in both models of severe and mild diabetes mellitus. Severe diabetes mellitus provoked an increase in both GLUT1 gene and protein expression in the kidneys and the heart, which was nearly normalized by glibenclamide. In the kidneys of mildly diabetic rats, an increase in the GLUT1 gene expression was neither confirmed on the protein level nor influenced by the glibenclamide treatment. In the liver of severely diabetic rats, the heart and the liver of mildly diabetic rats, the GLUT1 gene and the protein expression was changed independently of each other, which might be explained by abortive transcription, and pre- and posttranslational modifications of gene expression.
Conclusions: The GLUT1 expression was found to be affected by the glucose and insulin levels and can be modulated by glibenclamide in severely and mildly diabetic rats. Glibenclamide can prevent the liver damage caused by severe hyperglycemia.