The Contribution of Singlet Oxygen to Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance contributes to the development of diabetes and cardiovascular dysfunctions. Recent studies showed that elevated singlet oxygen-mediated lipid peroxidation precedes and predicts diet-induced insulin resistance (IR), and neutrophils were suggested to be responsible for such singlet oxygen production. This review highlights literature suggesting that insulin-responsive cells such as endothelial cells, hepatocytes, adipocytes, and myocytes also produce singlet oxygen, which contributes to insulin resistance, for example, by generating bioactive aldehydes, inducing endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and modifying mitochondrial DNA. In these cells, nutrient overload leads to the activation of Toll-like receptor 4 and other receptors, leading to the production of both peroxynitrite and hydrogen peroxide, which react to produce singlet oxygen. Cytochrome P450 2E1 and cytochrome c also contribute to singlet oxygen formation in the ER and mitochondria, respectively. Endothelial cell-derived singlet oxygen is suggested to mediate the formation of oxidized low-density lipoprotein which perpetuates IR, partly through neutrophil recruitment to adipose tissue. New singlet oxygen-involving pathways for the formation of IR-inducing bioactive aldehydes such as 4-hydroperoxy-(or hydroxy or oxo)-2-nonenal, malondialdehyde, and cholesterol secosterol A are proposed. Strategies against IR should target the singlet oxygen-producing pathways, singlet oxygen quenching, and singlet oxygen-induced cellular responses

Lipid Peroxidation as a Link between Unhealthy Diets and the Metabolic Syndrome

Unhealthy diets, such as those high in saturated fat and sugar accelerate the development of non-communicable diseases. The metabolic syndrome is a conglomeration of disorders such as abdominal obesity, hypertension, impaired glucose regulation and dyslipidemia, which increases the risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is increasing globally, and dietary interventions may help to reverse this trend. A good understanding of its pathophysiological mechanisms is needed for the proper design of such interventions. This chapter discusses how lipid peroxidation is associated with the development of this syndrome, mainly through the formation of bioactive aldehydes, such as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, malondialdehyde, acrolein and glyoxal, which modify biomolecules to induce cellular dysfunction, including the enhancement of oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling. It gives a current understanding of the mechanisms of formation of these aldehydes and how dietary components such as saturated fatty acids promote oxidative stress, leading to lipid oxidation. It also outlines mechanisms, apart from free radical scavenging and singlet oxygen quenching, by which various dietary constituents prevent oxidative stress and lipid oxidation in vivo

Reactions of 1-stearoyl-2-(13'-oxo-9',11'-tridecadienoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine with amino acids and peptides and its differential generation from hydroperoxides of 1-stearoyl-2-&alph;-linolenoyl-sn -glycero-3-phosphocholine and

Phosphatidylcholines (PCs) bearing various kinds of aldehydic acyl chains at the sn-2 position have been detected in atherosclerotic tissues. However, 1-acyl-2-(13'-oxo-9',11'-tridecadienoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and other a,b,g,d-unsaturated aldehyde PCs have not. To determine whether this might be due to their high chemical reactivity with biomolecules, we investigated the reactions of 1-stearoyl-2-(13'-oxo-9',11'-tridecadienoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (OTDA-PC, where OTDA refers to the oxo-tridecadienoyl moiety) with nucleophilic amino acids and peptides by means of electrospray mass spectroscopy. OTDA-PC formed Michael adducts with lysine, arginine, histidine, hippuryl lysine and hippuryl arginine, but was surprisingly unreactive with cysteine or glutathione. When 1-stearoyl-2-(13'-hydroperoxy-9'Z,11'E,15'Z-octadecatrienoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PC-LNA-OOH, where LNA-OOH denotes the linolenic acid hydroperoxide moiety)　was decomposed in the presence of the reactive lysine, OTDA-PC was still detected as a major product. However, OTDA-PC could not be detected when 1-stearoyl-2-(13'-hydroperoxy-9'Z,11'E-octadecadienoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PC-LA-OOH, where LA-OOH refers to linoleic acid hydroperoxide) was decomposed in the presence or absence of lysine.  Since linoleic acid is the major polyunsaturated fatty acid in atherosclerotic tissues, these results indicate that formation of OTDA-PC in only minor amounts in such tissues may explain its not having been detected in them. Surprisingly, 1-stearoyl-2-(9'-oxononanoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine was the major aldehydic product of the decomposition of PC-LA-OOH under anaerobic conditions. KEY WORDS: Lipid oxidation, Bioactive phospholipid aldehydes (core aldehydes), Michael addition  Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2008, 22(2), 269-276.&#160

From Benchside to Community Research: Development of Affordable and Accessible Probiotic Foods in East Africa

Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when ingested in adequate amounts, confer health benefits. In 2004, Western Heads East brought Fiti to East Africa and trained women how to produce Fiti probiotic yogurt. Fiti is composed of a probiotic culture, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1, and a starter strain, Streptococcus thermophilus C1062. This initiative has since empowered low-income groups to gain financial independence, particularly women. There are currently ~250 kitchens feeding over 250,000 consumers daily in East Africa. A challenge with accessing Fiti yoghurt is the fluctuating cost of milk and inconsistent supply of high quality milk. A potential solution is the consumption of Fiti through affordable non-dairy foods. Pilot studies reveal bacterial viability of Fiti probiotics in probiotic mango juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, mango juice, and millet porridge; there remains no sensory data on these products from East African populations. The research questions sought to examine how individuals in Tanzania and Kenya rated different non-dairy probiotic foods; how these ratings compared to probiotic yoghurt; and how these rating correlated with the willingness of individuals to consume non-dairy probiotic products

Formation of Aldehydic Phosphatidylcholines during the Anaerobic Decomposition of a Phosphatidylcholine Bearing the 9-Hydroperoxide of Linoleic Acid

Lipid oxidation-derived carbonyl compounds are associated with the development of various physiological disorders. Formation of most of these products has recently been suggested to require further reactions of oxygen with lipid hydroperoxides. However, in rat and human tissues, the formation of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal is greatly elevated during hypoxic/ischemic conditions. Furthermore, a previous study found an unexpected result that the decomposition of a phosphatidylcholine (PC) bearing the 13-hydroperoxide of linoleic acid under a nitrogen atmosphere afforded 9-oxononanoyl-PC rather than 13-oxo-9,11-tridecadienoyl-PC as the main aldehydic PC. In the present study, products of the anaerobic decomposition of a PC bearing the 9-hydroperoxide of linoleic acid were analysed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. 9-Oxononanoyl-PC (ONA-PC) and several well-known bioactive aldehydes including 12-oxo-9-hydroperoxy-(or oxo or hydroxy)-10-dodecenoyl-PCs were detected. Hydrolysis of the oxidized PC products, methylation of the acids obtained thereby, and subsequent gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy with electron impact ionization further confirmed structures of some of the key aldehydic PCs. Novel, hydroxyl radical-dependent mechanisms of formation of ONA-PC and peroxyl-radical dependent mechanisms of formation of the rest of the aldehydes are proposed. The latter mechanisms will mainly be relevant to tissue injury under hypoxic/anoxic conditions, while the former are relevant under both normoxia and hypoxia/anoxia

Excessive gluconeogenesis causes the hepatic insulin resistance paradox and its sequelae

Background: Hepatic insulin signaling suppresses gluconeogenesis but promotes de novo lipid synthesis. Paradoxically, hepatic insulin resistance (HIR) enhances both gluconeogenesis and de novo lipid synthesis. Elucidation of the etiology of this paradox, which participates in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), cardiovascular disease, the metabolic syndrome and hepatocellular carcinoma, has not been fully achieved. Scope of review: This article briefly outlines the previously proposed hypotheses on the etiology of the HIR paradox. It then discusses literature consistent with an alternative hypothesis that excessive gluconeogenesis, the direct effect of HIR, is responsible for the aberrant lipogenesis. The mechanisms involved therein are explained, involving de novo synthesis of fructose and uric acid, promotion of glutamine anaplerosis, and induction of glucagon resistance. Thus, gluconeogenesis via lipogenesis promotes hepatic steatosis, a component of NAFLD, and dyslipidemia. Gluconeogenesis-centred mechanisms for the progression of NAFLD from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis are suggested. That NAFLD often precedes and predicts type 2 diabetes is explained by the ability of lipogenesis to cushion against blood glucose dysregulation in the earlier stages of NAFLD. Major conclusions: HIR-induced excessive gluconeogenesis is a major cause of the HIR paradox and its sequelae. Such involvement of gluconeogenesis in lipid synthesis rationalizes the fact that several types of antidiabetic drugs ameliorate NAFLD. Thus, dietary, lifestyle and pharmacological targeting of HIR and hepatic gluconeogenesis may be a most viable approach for the prevention and management of the HIR-associated network of diseases

Cellular Stresses and Stress Responses in the Pathogenesis of Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance (IR), a key component of the metabolic syndrome, precedes the development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Its etiological pathways are not well defined, although many contributory mechanisms have been established. This article summarizes such mechanisms into the hypothesis that factors like nutrient overload, physical inactivity, hypoxia, psychological stress, and environmental pollutants induce a network of cellular stresses, stress responses, and stress response dysregulations that jointly inhibit insulin signaling in insulin target cells including endothelial cells, hepatocytes, myocytes, hypothalamic neurons, and adipocytes. The insulin resistance-inducing cellular stresses include oxidative, nitrosative, carbonyl/electrophilic, genotoxic, and endoplasmic reticulum stresses; the stress responses include the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, the DNA damage response, the unfolded protein response, apoptosis, inflammasome activation, and pyroptosis, while the dysregulated responses include the heat shock response, autophagy, and nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 signaling. Insulin target cells also produce metabolites that exacerbate cellular stress generation both locally and systemically, partly through recruitment and activation of myeloid cells which sustain a state of chronic inflammation. Thus, insulin resistance may be prevented or attenuated by multiple approaches targeting the different cellular stresses and stress responses

Mechanisms of the Regulation and Dysregulation of Glucagon Secretion

Glucagon, a hormone secreted by pancreatic alpha cells, contributes to the maintenance of normal blood glucose concentration by inducing hepatic glucose production in response to declining blood glucose. However, glucagon hypersecretion contributes to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Moreover, diabetes is associated with relative glucagon undersecretion at low blood glucose and oversecretion at normal and high blood glucose. The mechanisms of such alpha cell dysfunctions are not well understood. This article reviews the genesis of alpha cell dysfunctions during the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and after the onset of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It unravels a signaling pathway that contributes to glucose- or hydrogen peroxide-induced glucagon secretion, whose overstimulation contributes to glucagon dysregulation, partly through oxidative stress and reduced ATP synthesis. The signaling pathway involves phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, protein kinase B, protein kinase C delta, non-receptor tyrosine kinase Src, and phospholipase C gamma-1. This knowledge will be useful in the design of new antidiabetic agents or regimens

Endogenous ozone as a regular reactive oxygen species in (patho) physiology

Inhalation of tropospheric ozone increases the risk of respiratory diseases and the metabolic syndrome (MS). On the other hand, medical ozone therapy is used in the management of many chronic diseases including components of MS. However, medical ozone has not gained universal acceptance because the mechanisms involved therein are not fully understood. Ozone has also been reported to be endogenously formed in cells and organisms. Like medical ozone, endogenous ozone has not been fully embraced, due to limited understanding of the mechanisms of its formation. This review seeks to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of endogenous ozone formation by outlining previously proposed mechanisms, and suggesting new pathways based on reactions that have been reported to be involved in tropospheric ozone formation and electrochemical ozone production from water. New perspectives on the mechanisms of the harms of ozone inhalation and the benefits of medical ozone are discussed. It is hypothesized that endogenous ozone is involved in the harmful effects of particulate matter and ozone inhalation, as well as the benefits of medical ozone, nutraceuticals and physical activity. Thus, endogenous ozone should be regarded as a mainstream reactive oxygen species in redox biology