Role of AMPD2 in impaired glucose tolerance induced by high fructose diet

A high intake of products containing fructose is known to mediate insulin resistance. In the liver, AMPD2, an isoform of AMPD, has important glucose metabolic homeostasis functions including maintenance of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). We speculated that AMPD2 induces impaired glucose tolerance in individuals who consume a high-fructose diet. We gave either a normal-chow (NCD) or high-fructose (HFrD) diet for 40 days to 8-week-old male wild-type (WT) and Ampd2 −/− homozygote (A2 −/−) C57BL/6 mice. A glucose tolerance test (GTT) and pyruvate tolerance test (PTT) were used to evaluate glucose metabolism. In addition, gluconeogenesis and glycolysis enzymes, and AMPK phosphorylation in the liver were investigated. With consumption of the HFrD, A2 −/− mice showed enhanced glucose tolerance in GTT and PTT results as compared to the WT mice, which were independent of changes in body weight. Also, the levels of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxy kinase and glucose-6-phosphatase (hepatic gluconeogenic enzymes) were significantly reduced in A2 −/− as compared to WT mice. The hepatic glycolytic enzymes glucokinase, phosphofructokinase, and pyruvate kinase were also examined, though there were no significant differences between genotypes in regard to both mRNA expression and protein expression under HFrD. Surprisingly, hepatic AMPK phosphorylation resulted in no changes in the A2 −/− as compared to WT mice under these conditions. Our results indicated that Ampd2–deficient mice are protected from high fructose diet-induced glycemic dysregulation, mainly because of gluconeogenesis inhibition, and indicate a novel therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes mellitus.