NADPH oxidase mediates glucolipotoxicity-induced beta cell dysfunction--clinical implications.

An impairment of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion--reflecting decreased glucokinase expression--and a moderate decrease in beta cell mass attributable to increased apoptosis, constitute the key features of beta cell failure in type 2 diabetes. Oxidative stress, provoked by prolonged exposure to excessive levels of glucose and/or fatty acids (glucolipotoxicity), appears to be a key mediator of these defects. Oxidant-provoked JNK activation induces nuclear export of the PDX-1 transcription factor, required for expression of glucokinase and other beta cell proteins. Conversely, increases in cAMP induced by incretin hormones promote the nuclear importation of PDX-1, counteracting the diabetogenic impact of oxidant stress; this may explain the utility of measures that slow dietary carbohydrate absorption for diabetes prevention. The ability of oxidative stress to boost apoptosis in beta cells is poorly understood, but may also entail JNK activation. Recent work establishes a phagocyte-type NADPH oxidase as the chief source of glucotoxicity-mediated oxidative stress in beta cells. Since bilirubin is now known to function physiologically as an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, and phycocyanobilin (PCB) derived from spirulina likewise can inhibit this enzyme complex, supplemental PCB may have utility in the prevention and control of diabetes, and Gilbert syndrome, associated with chronically elevated free bilirubin, may be associated with decreased diabetes risk.