THU309 Ghrelin Deficiency Does Not Improve Glucose Tolerance And Insulin Secretion In Female Mice
Authors: Gupta Deepali , Shankar Kripa , Varshney Salil , Singh Omprakash , Paul Subhojit , Ogden Sean B , Osborne-Lawrence Sherri , Burstein Avi W , Metzger Nathan P , Richard Corine P , Zigman Jeffrey M 
Published: October 2023

Disclosure: D. Gupta: None. K. Shankar: None. S. Varshney: None. O. Singh: None. S. Paul: None. S.B. Ogden: None. S. Osborne-Lawrence: None. A.W. Burstein: None. N.P. Metzger: None. C.P. Richard: None. J.M. Zigman: None.

Background: Ghrelin is a peptide hormone secreted primarily from specialized enteroendocrine cells of the stomach. Ghrelin’s ability to regulate blood glucose has emerged as one of its well-recognized actions. For instance, administered ghrelin increases blood glucose in rodents and humans, while ghrelin-knockout (GKO) mice and ghrelin receptor-knockout (GHSR-KO) mice exhibit reduced blood glucose upon fasting, improved glucose tolerance when on regular chow or when on obesogenic diets, and frank hypoglycemia when chronically food restricted. Upon obesogenic diet or glucose challenge, plasma insulin is higher in GKO and GHSR-KO mice, suggesting that ghrelin affects blood glucose at least in part by inhibiting insulin secretion. Notably, ghrelin’s glucoregulatory actions, including its effects to alter insulin secretion, have almost exclusively been studied in males. Because sex significantly impacts the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders and type 2 diabetes, here we studied ghrelin’s effects on glucose tolerance and insulin secretion in female mice and in the setting of pregnancy. Methods: Separate cohorts of 12-13 week-old female GKO and wildtype (WT) littermates with 11.5 gestational days induced by timed pregnancy, and aged matched GKO and WT non-pregnant female mice were fasted for 6 h after which oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. Briefly, mice were administered D-glucose (2 g/kg BW) by oral gavage at t = 0 min. Blood glucose was measured from nicked tails at t = 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min and insulin was assayed in blood samples collected at t = 0, 15 and 30 min of glucose administration. Results: In OGTT, blood glucose increased significantly and similarly 15 min after oral glucose gavage in GKO and WT mice with or without pregnancy. Blood glucose AUC was 74.2% and 72.8% decreased with pregnancy in WT and GKO mice, respectively. No difference in plasma insulin was observed 15 min after glucose gavage in GKO mice vs WT mice with or without pregnancy. AUC of plasma insulin was significantly increased with pregnancy by 112.6% and by 123.8% in WT mice and GKO mice, respectively. Conclusions: With pregnancy, plasma insulin elevates (presumably as a means to maintain or improve glucose tolerance). Ghrelin deficiency during pregnancy is dispensable for this elevation in insulin and improvement in glucose tolerance. Ghrelin’s response to glucose tolerance and insulin secretion was blunted in female mice suggesting ghrelin’s actions on glucose tolerance and insulin secretion exhibit sexual diversity. Disclosure: The authors have no competing interest. Funding. This work was supported through research grants from the NIH (R01 DK103884 and R01 DK119341 to J.M.Z)

Presentation: Thursday, June 15, 2023