Abstract
Diabetes mellitus is characterized by insulin resistance and β-cell failure. The latter involves impaired insulin secretion and β-cell dedifferentiation. Sulfonylurea (SU) is used to improve insulin secretion in diabetes, but it suffers from secondary failure. The relationship between SU secondary failure and β-cell dedifferentiation has not been examined. Using a model of SU secondary failure, we have previously shown that functional loss of oxidoreductase Cyb5r3 mediates effects of SU failure through interactions with glucokinase. Here we demonstrate that SU failure is associated with partial β-cell dedifferentiation. Cyb5r3 knockout mice show more pronounced β-cell dedifferentiation and glucose intolerance after chronic SU administration, high-fat diet feeding, and during aging. A Cyb5r3 activator improves impaired insulin secretion caused by chronic SU treatment, but not β-cell dedifferentiation. We conclude that chronic SU administration affects progression of β-cell dedifferentiation and that Cyb5r3 activation reverses secondary failure to SU without restoring β-cell dedifferentiation.