Abstract
The purpose of the current study was to test the hypothesis that the dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) inhibitor sitagliptin, which exerts anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hypertensive effects, upregulates GLUT4 translocation, protein levels, and/or mRNA expression in heart and skeletal muscle of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Ten days of treatment with sitagliptin (40 mg/kg twice daily) decreased plasma DPPIV activity in both young (Y, 5-week-old) and adult (A, 20-week-old) SHRs to similar extents (~85%). However, DPPIV inhibition only lowered blood pressure in Y-SHRs (119 ± 3 vs. 136 ± 4 mmHg). GLUT4 translocation, total protein levels and mRNA expression were decreased in the heart, soleus and gastrocnemius muscle of SHRs compared to age-matched Wistar Kyoto (WKY) normotensive rats. These differences were much more pronounced between A-SHRs and A-WKY rats than between Y-SHRs and Y-WKY rats. In Y-SHRs, sitagliptin normalized GLUT4 expression in the heart, soleus and gastrocnemius. In A-SHRs, sitagliptin increased GLUT4 expression to levels that were even higher than those of A-WKY rats. Sitagliptin enhanced the circulating levels of the DPPIV substrate glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in SHRs. In addition, stimulation of the GLP-1 receptor in cardiomyocytes isolated from SHRs increased the protein level of GLUT4 by 154 ± 13%. Collectively, these results indicate that DPPIV inhibition upregulates GLUT4 in heart and skeletal muscle of SHRs. The underlying mechanism of sitagliptin-induced upregulation of GLUT4 in SHRs may be, at least partially, attributed to GLP-1.