Abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism in COVID-19 patients were recently reported with unclear mechanism. In this study, we retrospectively investigated a cohort of COVID-19 patients without pre-existing metabolic-related diseases, and found new-onset insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, and decreased HDL-C in these patients. Mechanistically, SARS-CoV-2 infection increased the expression of RE1-silencing transcription factor (REST), which modulated the expression of secreted metabolic factors including myeloperoxidase, apelin, and myostatin at the transcriptional level, resulting in the perturbation of glucose and lipid metabolism. Furthermore, several lipids, including (±)5-HETE, (±)12-HETE, propionic acid, and isobutyric acid were identified as the potential biomarkers of COVID-19-induced metabolic dysregulation, especially in insulin resistance. Taken together, our study revealed insulin resistance as the direct cause of hyperglycemia upon COVID-19, and further illustrated the underlying mechanisms, providing potential therapeutic targets for COVID-19-induced metabolic complications.

BackgroundOsteoarthritis is a progressive inflammatory joint disease resulting in damage to articular cartilage. G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER/GPR30) activates cell signaling in response to 17β-estradiol, which can be blocked by the GPR30 agonist, G15, an analog of G-1. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of 17β-estradiol on the expression of G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER/GPR30) on mitophagy and the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in ATDC5 chondrocytes in vitro.Material/MethodsCultured ATDC5 chondrocytes were treated with increasing concentrations of 17β-estradiol with and without G15, p38 inhibitor (SB203580), JNK inhibitor (SP600125), PI3K inhibitor (LY294002, S1737), and mTOR inhibitor (S1842). Expression of GPER/GPR30 and components of the PI3K/Akt pathway in cultured ATDC5 chondrocytes were detected by immunofluorescence (IF) staining, Western blot, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and IF were used to detect mitophagosomes. Expression of LC-3, LAMP2, TOM20, Hsp60, p-Akt, p-mTOR, p-p38, and p-JNK was investigated by Western blot. Proliferation and viability of the ATDC5 chondrocytes were determined using BrdU and MTT assays.ResultsIn 17β-estradiol-treated ATDC5 chondrocytes, increased expression of GPER/GPR30 was found, but fewer mitophagosomes were observed, and decreased numbers of TOM20-positive granules were co-localized with decreased LAMP2 and increased expression levels of TOM20, Hsp60, p-Akt, and p-mTOR, and reduced expression of LC3-II, were found. In 17β-estradiol-treated ATDC5 chondrocytes, the proliferation and viability of the 17β-estradiol-treated ATDC5 chondrocytes were significantly elevated.ConclusionsTreatment with 17β-estradiol protected ATDC5 chondrocytes against mitophagy via the GPER/GPR30 and the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

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Orexins are hypothalamic neuropeptides that regulate feeding, reward, wakefulness and energy homeostasis. The present study sought to characterize the involvement of orexin A in glucose metabolism in HepG2 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and investigated the role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in the response. HepG2 cells were exposed to different concentrations of orexin A (10−9 to 10−7 M) in vitro, without or with the orexin receptor 1 (OX1R) inhibitor (SB334867), HIF-1α inhibitor (YC-1) or a combination of both inhibitors. Subsequently, OX1R, HIF-1α expression and localization, glucose uptake, glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) expression and ATP content were measured. We further investigated the intracellular fate of glucose by measuring the gene expression of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1), lactate dehydrogenase (LDHA) and pyruvate dehydrogenase B (PDHB), as well as metabolite levels including lactate generation and mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity. The activity of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway was also assessed. Our results showed that the expression of OX1R was predominantly located in the nucleus in HepG2 cells. Orexin A oxygen-independently promoted the mRNA and protein expression of HIF-1α as well as its nuclear accumulation in HepG2 cells and the elevated HIF-1α protein was associated, at least partly, with the activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Orexin A stimulated GLUT1 expression, glucose uptake as well as ATP generation in HepG2 cells via OX1R acting through the HIF-1α pathway. Moreover, orexin A inhibited LDHA, PDK1 expression and lactate production, stimulated PDHB expression and PDH enzyme activity independent of HIF-1α. Our results indicated that orexin signaling facilitated the glucose flux into mitochondrial oxidative metabolism rather than glycolysis in HepG2 cells. These findings provide new insight into the regulation of glucose metabolism by orexin A in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.