Introduction
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disease characterized by chronic hyperglycemia due to impaired insulin secretion and insulin resistance (IR) [
1]. IR, a defective response to insulin stimulation of target cells such as hepatocytes, skeletal muscle cells, and adipocytes, plays a crucial role in the development of several metabolic diseases including T2DM, obesity, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease, and dyslipidemia [
2]. The pathogenic mechanism of IR is complex and still not fully understood, and evidence is accumulating that high concentrations of plasma-free fatty acids (FFAs) are closely correlated with the increased risk of developing IR and T2DM [
3]. Numerous studies have shown that palmitic acid (PA), the most abundant saturated FFA in circulation, triggers excessive reactive oxygen species production due to disrupting mitochondrial function and inducing oxidative stress, which has been implicated in the pathogenesis of IR associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress [
4]. In addition, ER stress and the subsequent unfolded protein response (UPR) also have been implicated in the impaired insulin signaling in hepatocytes caused by PA [
5‐
7].
Insulin-stimulated activation of the IRS1/PI3K/Akt pathway plays a critical role in regulating the hepatic expression of glucose-metabolizing genes involved in glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and glycogenesis [
8,
9]. On the one hand, Akt activation induces a decrease in hepatic gluconeogenesis by downregulating phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) by promoting phosphorylation of forkhead box transcription factor O1 (FoxO1), resulting in a cytoplasmic translocation of FoxO1 and repression of FoxO1-mediated transactivation [
10]; On the other hand, activation of Akt leads to increased hepatic glucose uptake and increased hepatic glycogen synthesis (glycogenesis) by upregulating expression of hepatic glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) [
11] and by reducing glycogen synthase (GS) phosphorylation, which is directly regulated by glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β) [
12]. Therefore, targeting hepatic glucose metabolism mediated by IRS1/PI3K/Akt signaling is an accepted strategy for the prevention and treatment of IR and T2DM.
Lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions are considered available strategies to alleviate T2DM [
13], however, no specific drugs have yet been approved to treat IR even diabetes medications (such as metformin and thiazolidinediones, or thiazolidinediones) are insulin sensitizers that lower blood glucose partly by reducing IR. Recently, the use of natural functional dietary supplements appears to be an attractive strategy to develop safe and effective drugs to treat IR. For example, some edible plants and their active compounds have been shown to improve hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism and alleviate IR and T2DM [
14‐
16]. Artichoke (
Cynara scolymus L.), a member of the Asteraceae family, is commonly used as a healthy food and as a popular traditional herbal remedy to protect the liver function [
17,
18]. The active compounds identified in artichokes, including chlorogenic acid, cynarin, flavonoids and their derivatives, have attracted considerable attention for their multiple pharmacological functions, including antioxidant stress, hypolipidemic, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects [
19‐
21]. Our previous study showed that artichoke water extract (AWE) has an anti-IR effect in high-fat diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in rats [
22]. In this study, to further investigate the molecular mechanism of the anti-IR effect of AWE, we used palmitate (PA)-induced IR in human HepG2 hepatocytes to study the anti-IR effect of AWE and the underlying mechanisms.
Discussion
Artichoke (Cynarascolymus L.), a traditional herbal medicine known for its liver protection, has been shown to possess multiple pharmacological functions including hypolipidemic, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects [
19]. Studies have shown that artichokes contain high levels of chlorogenic acid, cynarin, flavonoids, and other active compounds [
26,
27].Among these, chlorogenic acid has been reported to improve glucose homeostasis by increasing glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity [
28] and improve high-fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis and IR in mice fed a high-fat diet [
29], and flavonoid supplements improve IR in overweight and obese participants [
30]. Our previous study has consistently demonstrated that artichoke water extract may attenuate IR by activating PI3K/Akt signaling in the liver of rats with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [
22]. In this study, our results revealed that AWE has an inhibitory effect on PA-induced IR in HepG2 cells by regulating glucose metabolism involved in IRS1/PI3K/Akt pathway by reducing gluconeogenesis and increasing glycogenesis, which may be due to inhibition of PA-induced ER stress.
PA, the most abundant saturated fatty acids in circulation, plays a critical role in the development of metabolic disease including IR, metabolic syndrome and T2DM [
31]. Numerous studies have shown that PA can cause lipoapoptosis and IR, which are characterized by defects in glucose uptake and consumption, increased gluconeogenesis, and decreased glycogen synthesis in insulin-sensitive cells, including hepatocytes, myocytes, and adipocytes [
32]. Consistent with this, our results showed that cell viability and cellular glucose consumption were reduced in a dose-dependent manner after HepG2 cells were exposed to PA. Due to the strong cytotoxic effect of high PA concentrations, 0.2 mM PA was chosen for the establishment of the IR model in HepG2 cells in the present study. Accordingly, reduced glucose uptake and reduced cellular glycogen content but increased gluconeogenesis was detected in PA-induced IR-HepG2 cells, suggesting that the IR model was successfully constructed in HepG2 cells. Metformin, the most widely used clinical insulin-sensitizing agent, improves blood glucose control through several mechanism, including suppression of hepatic glucose production, promotion of hepatic glycogen synthesis, and increasing glucose uptake and glycolysis [
33]. IR-mediated dysregulated glucose metabolism was reversed by AWE treatment, including an increase in cell viability, glucose uptake and consumption, increased cellular glycogen content, and a reduction in gluconeogenesis, which is similar to the effect of metformin. These results suggest that AWE has the potential to alleviate PA-induced lipotoxicity and IR in HepG2 cells.
IRS1, a key adapter in insulin-signaling, transmits signals from insulin receptor to the PI3K/Akt pathway [
2]. Previous reports showed that PA induces IR in human HepG2 cells by enhancing proteasomal degradation of key insulin signaling molecules [
34]. Consistent with this, the results showed that total protein levels of key insulin signaling molecules including IRS1, PI3K p100α, Akt, and phosphorylation of IRS-1 (Tyr612) and Akt (S473) were downregulated in IR HepG2 cells. However, AWE treatment dose-dependently increased total protein levels and phosphorylation of these molecules without affecting mRNA levels, suggesting that the inhibitory effect of AWE on the PA induced degradation of key molecules involved in IRS1/PI3K/Akt signaling may be related to post-translational modifications but not to transcriptional regulation. In addition, GLUT2, the main glucose transporter of hepatocytes, whose expression is regulated by the AKT [
11]. The results showed that the PA mediated downregulation of GLUT2 was reversed by AWE treatment.
FoxO1, a transcription factor of the Akt downstream target, plays an important role in insulin-mediated glucose metabolism by promoting gluconeogenesis through transcriptional activation of PEPCK and G6Pase [
35]. Our data showed that in IR-HepG2 cells, a decrease in FoxO1 phosphorylation and total protein levels and an increase in PEPCK and G6Pase mRNA and protein levels were observed. Consistent with the inhibitory effect of AWE on glucose production, AWE treatment dose-dependently increased p-FoxO1(Ser 256) and FoxO1 protein expression and downregulated PEPCK and G6Pase mRNA and protein levels, suggesting that AWE might alleviate IR by inhibiting gluconeogenesis by suppressing hepatic gluconeogenic gene expression.
Insulin-mediated activation of the PI3K/Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway plays a critical role in glucose metabolism in liver and muscle cells by increasing GSK3β phosphorylation and thereby activating GS, promoting the conversion of glucose into glycogen [
12]. Consistent with decreased cellular glycogen content, decreased protein levels of GSK3β (Ser9) and GSK3β but increased protein levels of p-GS (Ser641) were observed in IR-HepG2 cells. Interestingly, AWE treatment increased p-GSK3β (Ser9) and GSK3β protein levels, but decreased p-GS (Ser641) protein levels in IR-HepG2 cells, which coincided with the increased cellular glycogen content in AWE-treated cells. This suggests that AWE may also improve IR by promoting glycogen synthesis through regulation of GSK3β/GS signaling.
PA induced toxicity and IR could be mediated by ER stress, which triggers activation of the UPR and ER-associated degradation pathway by directing the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of a variety of ER-associated misfolded and normal proteins [
36,
37]. Previous reports showed that PA induces IR by enhancing ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of key insulin signaling molecules [
34]. Accordingly, our results showed that total protein levels of IRS-1, PI3K(p100α), and Akt were significantly decreased in PA-treated HepG2 cells, while AWE suppressed PA-mediated degradation of these proteins. Furthermore, we found that the PA-induced upregulation of the major ER stress proteins ATF6, GRP78, and CHOP could be inhibited by AWE, suggesting that the anti-IR action of AWE could be due to inhibition of PA-mediated ER stress in HepG2 cells.
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