2. Academic Validation
  3. Glucagon receptor antibody completely suppresses type 1 diabetes phenotype without insulin by disrupting a novel diabetogenic pathway

Glucagon receptor antibody completely suppresses type 1 diabetes phenotype without insulin by disrupting a novel diabetogenic pathway

  • Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Feb 24;112(8):2503-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1424934112.
May-Yun Wang 1,  Hai Yan 2,  Zhiqing Shi 2,  Matthew R Evans 3,  Xinxin Yu 1,  Young Lee 1,  Shiuhwei Chen 4,  Annie Williams 5,  Jacques Philippe 6,  Michael G Roth 7,  Roger H Unger 8
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Touchstone Diabetes Center, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390;
  • 2 REMD Biotherapeutics, Inc., Camarillo, CA 93012; Beijing Cosci-REMD Biotherapeutics Inc., Beijing 102206, China;
  • 3 Department of Biochemistry and.
  • 4 Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390;
  • 5 University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556;
  • 6 University of Geneva School of Medicine, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; and.
  • 7 Department of Biochemistry and [email protected] [email protected].
  • 8 Touchstone Diabetes Center, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390; Department of Medical Service, Veteran's Administration North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, TX 75216 [email protected] [email protected].
PMID: 25675519 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1424934112
Abstract

Insulin monotherapy can neither maintain normoglycemia in type 1 diabetes (T1D) nor prevent the long-term damage indicated by elevated glycation products in blood, such as glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Here we find that hyperglycemia, when unaccompanied by an acute increase in Insulin, enhances itself by paradoxically stimulating hyperglucagonemia. Raising glucose from 5 to 25 mM without Insulin enhanced glucagon secretion ∼two- to fivefold in InR1-G9 α cells and ∼18-fold in perfused pancreata from insulin-deficient rats with T1D. Mice with T1D receiving Insulin treatment paradoxically exhibited threefold higher plasma glucagon during hyperglycemic surges than during normoglycemic intervals. Blockade of glucagon action with mAb Ac, a Glucagon Receptor (GCGR) antagonizing antibody, maintained glucose below 100 mg/dL and HbA1c levels below 4% in insulin-deficient mice with T1D. In rodents with T1D, hyperglycemia stimulates glucagon secretion, up-regulating phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and enhancing hyperglycemia. GCGR antagonism in mice with T1D normalizes glucose and HbA1c, even without Insulin.

Keywords

antibody; glucagon receptor; insulin; type 1 diabetes.

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