The Effect of Glucagon on Rates of Hepatic Mitochondrial Oxidation and Pyruvate Carboxylase Flux in Man Assessed by Positional Isotopomer NMR Tracer Analysis (PINTA)

Objectives:

To examine rates of hepatic mitochondrial oxidation in healthy volunteers with liver lipid less than 2%.

To examine the effects of glucagon on hepatic glucose and fat metabolism in vivo, this study will apply a novel Positional Isotopomer NMR Tracer Analysis (PINTA) method to quantify rates of hepatic mitochondrial oxidation and pyruvate carboxylase flux, which has been cross-validated in awake rodents and humans (Perry et al. Nature Communications 2017). Preliminary rodent studies have found that glucagon stimulates intrahepatic lipolysis through an InsP3R-I-dependent process, leading to increases in hepatic acetyl-CoA content, which allosterically activates pyruvate carboxylase activity and flux, and that this phenomenon explains its acute, transcription-independent effect to acutely stimulate hepatic gluconeogenesis in vivo (unpublished results). In addition, using PINTA analysis it has been shown that glucagon stimulates hepatic mitochondrial oxidation through calcium signaling in awake mice, and that this process can be exploited by short-term continuous glucagon treatment leading to two-fold increases in hepatic mitochondrial fat oxidation, which in turn results in large reductions in hepatic steatosis and marked improvements in glucose tolerance through reversal of hepatic insulin resistance in a high fat fed rat model of non alcoholic fatty liver.

Hypothesis:

1. A physiological increase in plasma glucagon concentrations will promote a significant increase in rates of hepatic mitochondrial oxidation in healthy humans.