FGF21 is not required for glucose homeostasis, ketosis or tumour suppression associated with ketogenic diets in mice.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Ketogenic diets (KDs) have increasingly gained attention as effective means for weight loss and potential adjunctive treatment of cancer. The metabolic benefits of KDs are regularly ascribed to enhanced hepatic secretion of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and its systemic effects on fatty-acid oxidation, energy expenditure (EE) and body weight. Ambiguous data from Fgf21-knockout animal strains and low FGF21 concentrations reported in humans with ketosis have nevertheless cast doubt regarding the endogenous function of FGF21. We here aimed to elucidate the causal role of FGF21 in mediating the therapeutic benefits of KDs on metabolism and cancer. METHODS: We established a dietary model of increased vs decreased FGF21 by feeding C57BL/6J mice with KDs, either depleted of protein or enriched with protein. We furthermore used wild-type and Fgf21-knockout mice that were subjected to the respective diets, and monitored energy and glucose homeostasis as well as tumour growth after transplantation of Lewis lung carcinoma cells. RESULTS: Hepatic and circulating, but not adipose tissue, FGF21 levels were profoundly increased by protein starvation, independent of the state of ketosis. We demonstrate that endogenous FGF21 is not essential for the maintenance of normoglycaemia upon protein and carbohydrate starvation and is therefore not needed for the effects of KDs on EE. Furthermore, the tumour-suppressing effects of KDs were independent of FGF21 and, rather, driven by concomitant protein and carbohydrate starvation. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Our data indicate that the multiple systemic effects of KD exposure in mice, previously ascribed to increased FGF21 secretion, are rather a consequence of protein malnutrition.

Auxin Import and Local Auxin Biosynthesis Are Required for Mitotic Divisions, Cell Expansion and Cell Specification during Female Gametophyte Development in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The female gametophyte of flowering plants, called the embryo sac, develops from a haploid cell named the functional megaspore, which is specified after meiosis by the diploid sporophyte. In Arabidopsis, the functional megaspore undergoes three syncitial mitotic divisions followed by cellularization to form seven cells of four cell types including two female gametes. The plant hormone auxin is important for sporophytic developmental processes, and auxin levels are known to be regulated by biosynthesis and transport. Here, we investigated the role of auxin biosynthetic genes and auxin influx carriers in embryo sac development. We find that genes from the YUCCA/TAA pathway (YUC1, YUC2, YUC8, TAA1, TAR2) are expressed asymmetrically in the developing ovule and embryo sac from the two-nuclear syncitial stage until cellularization. Mutants for YUC1 and YUC2 exhibited defects in cell specification, whereas mutations in YUC8, as well as mutations in TAA1 and TAR2, caused defects in nuclear proliferation, vacuole formation and anisotropic growth of the embryo sac. Additionally, expression of the auxin influx carriers AUX1 and LAX1 were observed at the micropylar pole of the embryo sac and in the adjacent cells of the ovule, and the aux1 lax1 lax2 triple mutant shows multiple gametophyte defects. These results indicate that both localized auxin biosynthesis and auxin import, are required for mitotic divisions, cell expansion and patterning during embryo sac development.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery but not vertical sleeve gastrectomy decreases bone mass in male rats.

The most effective treatment for obesity is bariatric surgery. However, there is increasing concern that bariatric surgery can cause nutrient deficiencies that translate into metabolic bone disease. Whether this is true for all surgery types is not yet clear. We therefore investigated the effects of 2 commonly applied bariatric surgeries (Roux-en-Y gastric bypass [RYGB] and vertical sleeve gastrectomy) on energy and bone metabolism in rats 60 days after surgery. Both surgeries resulted in similar reductions of body weight, body fat, and food intake. Glucose tolerance was improved to a similar extent after both surgeries and was accompanied by increased postprandial secretion of glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide. Using microcomputed tomography, we found that, relative to sham-operated rats, bone volume was significantly reduced after RYGB but not vertical sleeve gastrectomy. RYGB rats also had markedly reduced lipid absorption from the intestine and significantly lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and calcium levels. Importantly, dietary supplementation with calcium and vitamin D could not fully rescue the reduced bone volume after RYGB surgery. Both surgeries resulted in a significant increase in stomach pH, which may have worsened the malabsorption in RYGB rats. Our findings suggest that bone loss in RYGB rats is not exclusively driven by calcium and vitamin D malabsorption but also by additional factors that may not be rescuable by dietary supplementation. These data point toward important similarities and differences between bariatric procedures that should be considered in clinical settings as guidance for which procedure will be best for specific patient populations.

Oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction in aortas of aged spontaneously hypertensive rats by NOX1/2 is reversed by NADPH oxidase inhibition.

Arterial hypertension is associated with increased levels of reactive oxygen species, which may scavenge endothelium-derived NO and thereby diminish its vasorelaxant effects. However, the quantitatively relevant source of reactive oxygen species is unclear. Thus, this potential pathomechanism is not yet pharmacologically targetable. Several enzymatic sources of reactive oxygen species have been suggested: uncoupled endothelial NO synthase, xanthine oxidase, and NADPH oxidases. Here we show that increased reactive oxygen species formation in aortas of 12- to 14-month-old spontaneously hypertensive rats versus age-matched Wistar Kyoto rats is inhibited by the specific NADPH oxidase inhibitor VAS2870 but neither by the xanthine oxidase inhibitor oxypurinol nor the NO synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester. NADPH oxidase activity, as well as protein expression of its catalytic subunits, NOX1 and NOX2, was increased in the aortas of spontaneously hypertensive rats, whereas the expression of NOX4 protein, the most abundant NOX isoform, was not significantly changed. Impaired acetylcholine-induced relaxation of spontaneously hypertensive rat aortas was significantly improved by VAS2870. In conclusion, NOX1 and NOX2 but not NOX4 proteins are increased in aged spontaneously hypertensive rat aortas. Importantly, these NOX isoforms, in particular, ectopic expression of NOX1 in endothelial cells, appear to affect vascular function in an NADPH oxidase inhibitor-reversible manner. NADPH oxidases may, thus, be a novel target for the treatment of systemic hypertension.

Down-regulated in adenoma mediates apical Cl-/HCO3- exchange in rabbit, rat, and human duodenum.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Duodenal bicarbonate secretion is in part mediated by an apical Cl-/HCO3- exchanger of unknown molecular nature. The recently discovered dra (down-regulated in adenoma) gene encodes a transport protein (DRA) for SO4(2-), Cl-, and HCO3-. The aim of this study was to investigate whether DRA may be the duodenal apical Cl-/HCO3- exchanger. METHODS: DRA, Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE) isoform 3, and anion exchanger isoform (AE) 2 messenger RNA expression levels were studied in rat, rabbit, and human gastrointestinal tract by semiquantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization (DRA in human intestine). The subcellular localization of DRA was determined by Western analysis and immunohistochemistry. Using rabbit and rat duodenal brush border membrane vesicles, anion exchange characteristics were investigated. RESULTS: DRA expression was high in duodenum and colon of all species, whereas NHE3 messenger RNA expression was low in duodenum and high in colon. Western analysis and immunohistochemistry showed an apical localization for DRA. Rabbit and rat duodenal brush border membrane vesicles showed 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid-sensitive Cl-/Cl-, HCO3-/Cl-, SO4(2-)/Cl-, and Cl-/SO4(2-) exchange, with evidence for one major brush border membrane Cl-/anion exchanger, an affinity for Cl- > HCO3-, and a much higher affinity for SO4(2-) in rat than rabbit. The strong predominance of DRA over NHE3 and NHE2 expression in duodenum was paralleled by much higher Cl-/HCO3- than Na+/H+ exchange rates in brush border membrane vesicles and likely explains the high duodenal HCO3- secretory rates. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that DRA is the major apical anion exchanger in the duodenum as well as the colon and the likely transport protein for duodenal electroneutral HCO3- secretion.