Anti-diabetic effects of GLP1 analogs are mediated by thermogenic interleukin-6 signaling in adipocytes

Absalon D. Gutierrez, Zhanguo Gao, Vala Hamidi, Liang Zhu, Karla Bermudez Saint Andre, Kayla Riggs, Monika Ruscheinsky, Hongyu Wang, Yongmei Yu, Charles Miller, Hernan Vasquez, Heinrich Taegtmeyer, Mikhail G. Kolonin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mechanisms underlying anti-diabetic effects of GLP1 analogs remain incompletely understood. We observed that in prediabetic humans exenatide treatment acutely induces interleukin-6 (IL-6) secretion by monocytes and IL-6 in systemic circulation. We hypothesized that GLP1 analogs signal through IL-6 in adipose tissue (AT) and used the mouse model to test if IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) signaling underlies the effects of the GLP1-IL-6 axis. We show that liraglutide transiently increases IL-6 in mouse circulation and IL-6R signaling in AT. Metronomic liraglutide treatment resulted in AT browning and thermogenesis linked with STAT3 activation. IL-6-blocking antibody treatment inhibited STAT3 activation in AT and suppressed liraglutide-induced increase in thermogenesis and glucose utilization. We show that adipose IL-6R knockout mice still display liraglutide-induced weight loss but lack thermogenic adipocyte browning and metabolism activation. We conclude that the anti-diabetic effects of GLP1 analogs are mediated by transient upregulation of IL-6, which activates canonical IL-6R signaling and thermogenesis.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number100813
JournalCell Reports Medicine
Volume3
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 15 2022

Keywords

  • GLP1
  • brown adipocyte
  • diabetes
  • exenatide
  • incretin
  • interleukin-6
  • liraglutide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)

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