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| Author(s): |
Tiago Gomes Araújo
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Faculdade de Ciências Médicas |
| Defense date: | 2012-10-30 |
| Examining board members: |
Mario José Abdalla Saad;
Licio Augusto Velloso;
Silvana Bordin;
Alex Rafacho;
Everardo Magalhães Carneiro
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| Advisor: | Mario José Abdalla Saad |
| Abstract | |
Insulin resistance is present in obesity and in type 2 diabetes, and is associated with islet cell hyperplasia and hyperinsulinemia but the driving forces behind this compensatory mechanism are incompletely understood. Previous data have suggested the involvement of an unknown circulating insulin resistance-related ?-cell growth-factor. In this context, looking for candidates to be a circulating factor, we realized that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a strong candidate as a link between insulin resistance and increased mass of islets/hyperinsulinemia. Our approach aimed to show a possible cause-effect relationship between increase in circulating HGF levels and compensatory islet hyperplasia/hyperinsulinemia by showing the strength of the association, whether or not is a dose-dependent response, the temporality, consistency, plausibility and reversibility of the association. In this regard, our data showed: a) a strong and consistent correlation between HGF and the compensatory mechanism in three animal models of insulin resistance; b) HGF increases ?-cell mass in a dose-dependent manner; c) blocking HGF shuts down the compensatory mechanisms; d) an increase in HGF levels seems to precede the compensatory response associated with insulin resistance, indicating that these events occur in a sequential mode. Additionally, blockages of HGF receptor (Met) worsen the impaired insulin-induced insulin signaling in liver of diet-induced obesity rats. Overall, our data indicate that HGF is a growth factor playing a key role in islet mass increase and hyperinsulinemia in diet-induced obesity rats, and suggest a protective effect of the HGF-Met axis on insulin signaling in the liver (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 09/11173-8 - Caracterization of HGF as a link between increased islet mass/hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance |
| Grantee: | Tiago Gomes Araújo |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |