DETERMINANTS OF HYDROPEROXIDE DETOXIFICATION IN DIABETIC RAT INTESTINE - EFFECT OF INSULIN AND FASTING ON THE GLUTATHIONE REDOX CYCLE

The capacity for hydroperoxide detoxification in diabetic (DM) intestine was studied in streptozocin-induced DM rats by quantification of the intestinal glutathione (GSH) redox cycle, a key cellular pathway for peroxide elimination. A role for luminal glucose in regulation of redox cycle activity was examined in insulin-treated or 24-hour-fasted DM animals. Intestinal activities of the redox enzymes, GSH peroxidase, GSSG reductase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (GGPD), were significantly decreased by 17 hours' insulin treatment, whereas only GGPD was decreased by fasting. Mucosal GSH levels were also markedly decreased under these conditions. These results are consistent with an overall suppression of intestinal GSH redox cycle function by short-term administration of insulin. Insulin treatment for 7 consecutive days increased hepatic GGPD activity by fourfold but was without effect on intestinal GGPD, suggesting tissue specificity in insulin regulation of G6PD. The rate of metabolism of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBH) in isolated enterocytes was low in the absence of substrates (0.51 +/- 0.07 nmol/10(6) cells/min) but was increased fivefold by exogenous glucose (2.70 +/- 0.11 nmol/10(6) cells/min), indicating that glucose availability is an important contributor to intestinal detoxification of toxic hydroperoxides, Collectively, the current results show that GSH redox cycle enzymes in DM intestine are under coordinate insulin control, and that this control appears to be downregulated by short-term insulin treatment. Copyright (C) 1995 by W.B. Saunders Company