PGC-1 and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Diabetes, Aims 4 & 5

The investigators' prior research has focused on defining the changes in expression of nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes that predict changes in insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle, with the goal of defining the molecular mechanisms underlying the connection between mitochondrial dysfunction and insulin resistance in skeletal muscle.

Three groups of subjects will be studied: lean, healthy control subjects (n=12) obese non-diabetic subjects (n=12) and patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (n=12) for a total of 36 subjects. Twenty subjects have completed the study at Arizona State University; the remaining 16 subjects will be accrued at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

Subjects will come to the Mayo Clinic 4 times. On Study Day 1 Subjects will be screened with a medical history & physical and a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test to determine if they are eligible for the study. On Study Day 2, subjects will report to the clinic after an overnight fast, undergo a euglycemic clamp (using deuterated glucose) to determine insulin sensitivity, and in addition have a muscle biopsy (basal biopsy for comparison). On Study Day 3, subjects will report to the clinic after an overnight fast, and undergo a Volume Oxygen Maximum (VO_2 max) determination. On Study Day 4, subjects will report to the clinic after an overnight fast to perform an exercise bout with muscle biopsy 30 minutes after the end of exercise. This will be followed by an overnight fast, and an additional muscle biopsy at 24 hours post exercise.