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The major characteristic of type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance, which is associated with plasma level of 12-hydroxylated bile acids (BAs) in humans. In this study, we investigated whether the rise of enterohepatic 12-hydroxylated BAs associates with glucose tolerance and/or insulin secretion using rats fed a diet supplemented with cholic acid (CA) at a level of 0.5 g/kg diet. Almost no increase was observed in plasma insulin in response to the intraperitoneal glucose administration in the CA-fed rats despite the significant increase of plasma insulin in control with the same treatment. In contrast, the changes in insulin secretion were observed in both groups and no difference was detected between the groups in the oral glucose tolerance test. Increases were observed in pancreatic expressions of Ins1 and Ins2 although the insulin protein content decreased in the pancreas without any sign in ectopic fat accumulation and histological damage in the CA-fed rats. Our results suggest that enterohepatic 12-hydroxylated BAs modulate insulin secretion in response to intraperitoneal glucose administration. The decrease in insulin store might be responsible for the reduction in the insulin secretion in the CA-fed rats.
Yokoyama et al. (Wed,) studied this question.