Lipid accelerating the fibril of islet amyloid polypeptide aggravated the pancreatic islet injury in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUND: The fibrillation of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) triggered the amyloid deposition, then enhanced the loss of the pancreatic islet mass. However, it is not clear what factor is the determinant in development of the fibril formation. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of lipid on IAPP fibril and its injury on pancreatic islet. METHODS: The fibril form of human IAPP (hIAPP) was tested using thioflavin-T fluorescence assay and transmission electron microscope technology after incubated with palmitate for 5 h at 25 °C. The cytotoxicity of fibril hIAPP was evaluated in INS-1 cells through analyzing the leakage of cell membrane and cell apoptosis. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) animal model was induced with low dose streptozotocin combined the high-fat diet feeding for two months in rats. Plasma biochemistry parameters were measured before sacrificed. Pancreatic islet was isolated to evaluate their function. RESULTS: The results showed that co-incubation of hIAPP and palmitate induced more fibril form. Fibril hIAPP induced cell lesions including cell membrane leakage and cell apoptosis accompanied insulin mRNA decrease in INS-1 cell lines. In vivo, Plasma glucose, triglyceride, rIAPP and insulin increased in T2DM rats compared with the control group. In addition, IAPP and insulin mRNA increased in pancreatic islet of T2DM rats. Furthermore, T2DM induced the reduction of insulin receptor expression and cleaved caspase-3 overexpression in pancreatic islet. CONCLUSIONS: Results in vivo and in vitro suggested that lipid and IAPP plays a synergistic effect on pancreatic islet cell damage, which implicated in enhancing the IAPP expression and accelerating the fibril formation of IAPP.