Skeletal muscle insulin resistance in hamsters with diabetes developed from obesity is involved in abnormal skeletal muscle LXR, PPAR and SREBP expression

Diabetic ‘lipotoxicity’ theory suggests that fat-induced skeletal muscle insulin resistance (FISMIR) in obesity induced by a high-fat diet (HFD), which leads to ectopic lipid accumulation in insulin-sensitive tissues, may play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. However, the changes in gene expression and the molecular mechanisms associated with the pathogenesis of FISMIR have not yet been fully elucidated. In the present study the changes in skeletal muscle gene expression were examined in FISMIR in obese insulin-resistant and diabetic hamster models induced by HFD with or without low-dose streptozotocin-treatment. Microarray technology and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to explore the potential underlying molecular mechanisms. The pathophysiological and metabolic features of obesity and type 2 diabetes in humans are closely resembled by these hamster models. The results of microarray analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes associated with metabolism were mostly related to the abnormal regulation and changes in the gene expression of liver X receptor (LXR), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) and sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) transcriptional programs in the skeletal muscle from insulin-resistant and diabetic hamsters. The microarray findings confirmed by RT-qPCR indicated that the increased expression of SREBPs and LXRβ and the decreased expression of LXRα and PPARs were involved in the molecular mechanisms of FISMIR pathogenesis in insulin-resistant and diabetic hamsters. A significant difference in the abnormal expression of skeletal muscle LXRs, PPARs and SREBPs was found between insulin-resistant and diabetic hamsters. It may be concluded that the combined abnormal expression of LXR, PPAR and SREBP transcriptional programs may contribute to the development of FISMIR mediated by skeletal muscle lipid accumulation resulting from abnormal skeletal muscle glucose and lipid metabolism in these HFD- and streptozotocin injection-induced insulin-resistant and diabetic hamsters.