Cited by 73Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic DiseasesAdipose Tissue and MetabolismMetabolism, Diabetes, and Cancer

Glucocorticoid Modulation of Insulin Signaling in Human Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue

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Gathercole, Laura L., Bujalska, Iwona J., Stewart, Paul M., Tomlinson, Jeremy W.·2007·The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Abstract

CONTEXT: Glucocorticoid (GC) excess is characterized by central obesity, insulin resistance, and in some cases, type 2 diabetes. However, the impact of GC upon insulin signaling in human adipose tissue has not been fully explored. OBJECTIVE: We have examined the effect of GC upon insulin signaling in both human sc primary preadipocyte cultures and a novel human immortalized sc adipocyte cell line (Chub-S7) and contrasted this with observations in primary cultures of human skeletal muscle. DESIGN AND SETTING: This is an in vitro study characterizing the impact of GC upon insulin signaling in human tissues. PATIENTS: Biopsy specimens were from healthy volunteers who gave their full and informed written consent. INTERVENTIONS: Combinations of treatments, including GC, RU38486, and wortmannin, were used. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Insulin signaling cascade gene and protein expression and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake were determined. RESULTS: In human adipocytes, pretreatment with GC induced a dose-dependent [1.0 (control); 1.2 +/- 0.1 (50 nm); 2.2 +/- 0.2 (250 nm), P < 0.01 vs. control; 3.4 +/- 0.2 (1000 nm), P < 0.001 vs. control] and time-dependent [1.0 (1 h); 3.2 +/- 2.0 (6 h); 9.1 +/- 5.9 (24 h), P < 0.05 vs. 1 h; 4.5 +/- 2.2 (48 h)] increase in insulin-stimulated protein kinase B/akt phosphorylation. In addition, whereas insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 protein expression did not change, IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation increased. Furthermore, GC induced IRS-2 mRNA expression (2.8-fold; P < 0.05) and increased insulin-stimulated glucose uptake [1.0 (control) 1.8 +/- 0.1 (insulin) vs. 2.8 +/- 0.2 (insulin + GC); P < 0.05]. In contrast, in primary cultures of human muscle, GC decreased insulin-stimulated glucose uptake [1.0 (control) 1.9 +/- 0.2 (insulin) vs. GC 1.3 +/- 0.1 (insulin + GC); P < 0.05]. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated tissue-specific regulation of insulin signaling by GC. Within sc adipose tissue, GCs augment insulin signaling, yet in muscle GCs cause insulin resistance. We propose that enhanced insulin action in adipose tissue increases adipocyte differentiation, thereby contributing to GC-induced obesity.

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Crossref · 10.1210/jc.2007-1399

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  • Glucocorticoids induce insulin resistance in liver and muscle but sensitize insulin signaling in adipose tissues.

    “Although glucocorticoids induce insulin resistance (IR) in liver and muscle, they are known to sensitize insulin signaling in adipose tissues (26).”

    From Mechanistic inferences on metabolic dysfunction in posttraumatic stress disorder from an integrated model and multiomic analysis: role of glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity (2019) · cites this paper as [26]

    The Discussion reports glucocorticoid-induced insulin resistance in human muscle cultures and reduced insulin-signaling markers in rodent liver. It also reports enhanced insulin signaling in human subcutaneous adipose cells, but says the study cannot address intra-abdominal adipose tissue and that insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in adipose tissue as a whole remains unclear. The claim therefore overgeneralizes the adipose finding. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [24]Bujalska IJ Gathercole LL Tomlinson JW Darimont C Stewart PM 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1-Specific Inhibitor Prevents Human Adipogenesis Proceedings of the 88th Annual meeting of the American Endocrine Society 2006 P2 240

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Authors
Gathercole, L. L., Bujalska, I. J., Stewart, P. M., & Tomlinson, J. W.
Affiliations
University of Birmingham (GB)
Corresponding author
Tomlinson, Jeremy W.
Venue
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Published
2007-11-01
Volume
92
Issue
11
Pages
4332-4339
ISSN
  • 0021-972X (ISSN-L)
  • 1945-7197
OpenAlex
W2104246562
Cited by
73
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 5
FWCI
2.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (075322/Z/04/Z)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolism, Diabetes, and Cancer
Keywords
glucocorticoids, insulin signaling, subcutaneous adipose tissue, insulin resistance, insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, Akt phosphorylation, IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation, skeletal muscle, mifepristone, wortmannin, preadipocytes, type 2 diabetes, abdominal obesity
MeSH terms
Cell Line, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Glucocorticoids, Glucose, Humans, Insulin, Insulin Resistance, Receptors, Glucocorticoid, RNA, Messenger, Stem Cells, Signal Transduction, Adipocytes, Muscle Fibers, Skeletal, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Myoblasts, Subcutaneous Fat, Lipid Metabolism

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