SIRT3 Deficiency Induces Endothelial Insulin Resistance and Blunts Endothelial-Dependent Vasorelaxation in Mice and Human with Obesity

Recent evidence implicates the critical role of Sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) in the development of many metabolic diseases, but the contribution of SIRT3 to vascular homeostasis remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of SIRT3 in endothelial insulin resistance and vascular dysfunction in obesity. We found an impaired insulin-induced mesenteric vasorelaxation and concomitant reduced vascular SIRT3 expression in morbid obese human subjects compared with the non-obese subjects. Downregulation of SIRT3 in cultured human endothelial cells increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) and impaired insulin signaling as evidenced by decreased phosphorylation of Akt and endothelial nitric oxide synthase and subsequent reduced nitric oxide (NO) release. In addition, obese mice induced by 24-week high-fat diet (HFD) displayed an impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation to both insulin and acetylcholine, which was further exacerbated by the gene deletion of Sirt3. Scavenging of mtROS not only restored insulin-stimulated NO production in SIRT3 knockdown cells, but also improved insulin-induced vasorelaxation in SIRT3 knockout mice fed with HFD. Taken together, our findings suggest that SIRT3 positively regulates endothelial insulin sensitivity and show that SIRT3 deficiency and resultant increased mtROS contribute to vascular dysfunction in obesity.