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Original Studies |
Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and INSERM U342 (J.C.C., C.L.S, L.C., J.L.C., P.B.), and CNRS UPR 1524 (L.C., M.G.), Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul, 75014 Paris, France; Department of Pediatrics (E.M.), Hôpital Charles Nicolle, 76000 Rouen, France; and Centre de Recherche (P.A.), Groupe LIPHA, 91380 Chilly-Mazarin, France
Address correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Jean-Claude Carel, INSERM U342, Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul 82 av Denfert Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France. E-mail: carel{at}cochin.inserm.fr
| Abstract |
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-subunit of Gs. Obesity is a
classical feature of patients with Gs deficiency, but the
mechanism leading to fat accumulation has not been elucidated. We
measured glycerol flux, using a nonradioactive tracer dilution
approach, to analyze the lipolytic response to epinephrine in 6
patients with Gs deficiency and PTH resistance and compared
it to six age-matched normal controls and nine massively obese
children. Basal glycerol production was reduced by 50%, and lipolytic
response to epinephrine was reduced by 67%, in
Gs-deficient children, as compared with controls. The
degree of impairment of lipolysis was similar in
Gs-deficient children who were only moderately overweight
and in morbidly obese children. These findings extend the spectrum of
hormonal resistance in Gs deficiency. Besides
ß-adrenergic receptors, Gs protein itself should be
examined as a possible step involved in the decreased lipolysis
observed in common obesity. | Introduction |
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-subunit of
Gs (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), transmitted as an autosomal dominant
trait with incomplete penetrance.
A striking feature of the disease is the variability of the clinical
and biochemical abnormalities, not explained by the various molecular
defects of the protein. Also of interest is the persistence of normal
distal responses to some of the hormones signaling through
Gs (such as vasopressin and glucagon). Obesity is
a classical feature of patients with Gs
deficiency (1), but the mechanism leading to fat accumulation has not
been elucidated (9, 10, 11). Mobilization of fat stores occurs in adipose
tissue through the hydrolysis of triglycerides into glycerol and fatty
acids (lipolysis). While insulin has a powerful antilipolytic effect,
catecholamines are the major hormones stimulating triglyceride
hydrolysis in man (12). The effects of catecholamines are initiated by
binding to lipolytic ß-adrenoreceptors and antilipolytic
2-adrenoreceptors in white adipose tissue
(12). Activated adrenoreceptors regulate adenylate cyclase activity,
cAMP production, and protein kinase A, resulting in phosphorylation and
activation of hormone-sensitive lipase, which breaks down triglycerides
to glycerol and free fatty acids (FFA), via di- and monoacylglycerol
intermediates (13). In a recent in vivo study of obese
children in the dynamic phase of obesity, we found that the lipolytic
effect of catecholamines was markedly decreased, supporting a role
for catecholamine resistance in the increased fat accumulation (14). A
resistance of lipolysis to catecholamines was also found in abdominal
sc fat cells of normal-weight first-degree relatives of obese
adults (15), suggesting that this alteration could be a primary
mechanism.
Because obesity is frequently associated with Gs deficiency and Gs is part of the pathway transducing the lipolytic signal through ß-adrenergic receptors, we tested whether epinephrine resistance was part of the spectrum of hormonal resistance in patients with Gs deficiency. We found that patients with Gs deficiency are resistant to the lipolytic actions of epinephrine.
| Subjects and Methods |
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Six children (four boys, two girls), with Gs deficiency were studied. Two of them (one boy, one girl) were sibs. The initial manifestations of Gs deficiency was hypocalcemia (5/6) or short stature and dysmorphic features (1/6). All patients had clinical features of Albrights hereditary osteodystrophy (in particular, short fourth and fifth metacarpals) and decreased erythrocyte Gs activity (63 ± 3%; range, 5073%). All six patients had PTH resistance and were treated with vitamin D at the time of the study; 5/6 had TSH resistance and were treated with L-T4. They were compared to six normal children (four boys, two girls) and nine obese children (four boys, five girls) recruited according to approval of the institutional ethical committee, as described in (14). Because the results in obese children have already been published (14), only the baseline data and glycerol flux data will be presented here, since they were studied with the same methodology as were Gs-deficient children.
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All subjects consumed an isocaloric standard diet 72 hr before the study. Studies were performed at 0800 h, following an overnight 12-h fast. After collection of a baseline sample, infusion of the [1,1,2,3,3-2H5] glycerol tracer (ISOTEC, Miamisburg, OH) began with a priming dose, followed by continuous infusion at a constant rate of 0.063 ± 0.003 µmol x kg-1 x min-1 for 3 hr. In controls, insulin was infused at a minimal rate of 0.20 mU/kg x min, starting with glycerol infusion, to reach a plasma level of insulin comparable with Gs-deficient children, whereas plasma glucose was maintained nearly constant (16, 17). Epinephrine infusion started at 60 min, at a rate of 0.75 µg/min for 60 min, then at 1.5 µg/min for another 60-min period. Epinephrine doses were similar for Gs-deficient and lean children and were calculated to induce lipolysis while minimally stimulating the cardiovascular system, according to previous studies in adult men (18, 19, 20). Blood samples (for the measurement of plasma glycerol concentration, [2H5] enrichment, plasma FFA, leptin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and insulin) were taken at baseline and at 10-min intervals during the last 30 min of the two study periods.
Analytical procedures and calculations
Details on the assays for plasma FFA, insulin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and glycerol [2H5] enrichment have been reported (14). Ra, the rate of appearance of endogenous glycerol in plasma, and Rd (the rate of its disposal) were quantified in basal conditions and during the epinephrine infusion. Because individual glycerol concentrations and enrichments varied within less than 10% of mean value during the last 20 min of each 60-min study period, we used a steady-state dilution equation to calculate glycerol turnover (see Ref. 24). Ra and Rd were equal and expressed in µmol/min to figure whole-body glycerol fluxes. Glycerol release was normalized to fat mass, as recommended (21, 22). Erythrocyte Gs activity was measured as described (23) and was expressed as percent of an internal standard (normal > 83%).
Statistical analysis
Data are presented as mean ± SE. Statistical
comparison between groups was performed with a two-tailed Students
t test for unpaired data. The relationship between variables
was evaluated using simple linear regression analysis. To compare the
response of each variable (glycerol flux, plasma FFA, heart rate, or
plasma glucose) to epinephrine between subjects, we used the standard
two stages (STS) (NIH) method described by Feldman (24). For
each individual (i), we calculated the slopes of the regression lines
(variable) = ßi·(epinephrine) +
i. The slope of such
a regression line, ßi, represents the proportional increase of the
variable, in response to a unit change in epinephrine. The means
± SE of these slopes were calculated and
compared between Gs-deficient and control
children, by unpaired t test.
| Results |
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Basal state. Basal plasma glycerol, glucose, and FFA
concentrations were comparable in Gs-deficient
and control children (Table 2
, data not
shown for obese children). In Gs-deficient
children, plasma epinephrine was 197 ± 48 pg/mL vs.
150 ± 22 pg/mL in normal children (not significant, NS)
and 299 ± 62 in obese children (P < 0.025 vs.
lean children). Plasma norepinephrine was 412 ± 107 pg/mL in
Gs-deficient patients and 1507 ± 256 pg/mL
in normal children (P < 0.005). Plasma leptin and insulin were
higher in obese and Gs-deficient children, as
expected from their increased body mass index (BMI).
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Basal. Basal glycerol production was lower in
Gs-deficient (146 ± 18 µmol/min or
µmol·min-1 and obese (176 ± 25 µmol/min or
µmol·min-1) than in control children (294 ±
35 µmole/min or µmol·min-1; respectively, P <
0.005 and P < 0.02, Fig. 1A
). This difference persisted after
normalization to adipose tissue mass, revealing that glycerol release
per unit fat mass was 49% lower in Gs-deficient
(9.3 ± 0.8 µmol·min-1·kg fat
mass-1) and 65% lower in obese (6.3 ± 1.1
µmol·min-1··kg fat mass-1)
than in control children (18.2 ± 1.4
µmol·min-1·kg fat mass-1,
P < 0.0005 vs. both groups, Fig. 1B
).
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i) was 0.47 ± 0.17
µmol·ml·min-1·pg-1 in
Gs-deficient, 0.39 ± 0.13
µmol·ml·min-1·pg-1 in obese, and
1.43 ± 0.27 in control children (P < 0.02, Gs-deficient
vs. lean; P < 0.002, obese vs. lean; NS,
Gs-deficient vs. obese). The relative increase of glycerol
production in Gs-deficient patients was only
152% and 182% of basal value after step 1 and step 2 vs.
171% and 266% in control children (Fig. 1A
The resting heart rate was significantly higher in
Gs-deficient patients (68 ± 4
vs. 58 ± 2, P < 0.05). During epinephrine
infusion, the relative increase of heart rate was 115% and 132% of
basal value in control children, consistent with the expected effects
of small doses of epinephrine (18, 19, 20). In
Gs-deficient patients, the increase was only
105% and 112%. The mean ß-slope of the individual regression
equations (heart rate = ßi [Epi] +
i) was 0.035 ±
0.006 in Gs-deficient and 0.063 ± 0.011 in
control children (P = 0.051). Therefore, the chronotropic response
to epinephrine seems to be slightly (or not) affected by
Gs deficiency.
| Discussion |
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Our patients were mildly overweight (123 ± 5% of ideal body
weight; range, 107- 141%) and were compared to a group of lean
children (similar fat mass, lower BMI) and to a group of obese children
with much higher BMI and fat mass. Under epinephrine stimulation, the
slope of response of glycerol production was similarly reduced in obese
(-73% vs. controls) and in
Gs-deficient (-67% vs. controls)
patients, and the dose response curve of these two groups on Fig. 1A
looks very similar. This indicates that, in obese and Gs-deficient
individuals, the capacity of adipose tissue to respond to a similar
increment of epinephrine is markedly decreased, even though most of our
Gs-deficient patients do not reach the commonly accepted threshold used
to define obesity. The expression of data per kg of fat mass shows that
fluxes are further reduced in massively obese children but that the
slope is still similar in both pathological groups (Fig. 1B
). Previous
studies of adrenergic response in patients with
pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) (9, 10) have investigated heterogeneous
groups of adult patients with decreased or normal erythrocyte
Gs activity, i.e. patients that would
now be classified, respectively, as PHP Ia or Ib (2). These studies
have concluded at a blunted cAMP response and a normal FFA response to
isoproterenol. Similarly, a blunted stimulatory response of adenylate
cyclase was observed in the plasma membranes of adipocytes from four
patients with PHP Ia and decreased erythrocyte Gs
activity (11). Our studies, in a more homogeneous group of patients
with Gs deficiency and PHP Ia, indicate that the
end organ response to adrenergic stimulation is markedly decreased and
might contribute to the obesity frequently observed in these patients.
However, our patients were only mildly overweight, suggesting that, at
least in children, regulatory pathways limit the expansion of body fat
mass. For instance, insulin sensitivity at the adipose tissue level
could counterbalance the detrimental effect of epinephrine resistance,
a hypothesis that can be tested (17).
The clinical picture of Gs deficiency is extremely variable, even in individuals of the same family, known to harbor the same mutation. Part of this variability could be caused by imprinting of the GNAS1 gene (25), but no direct evidence has been obtained in the human so far (26, 27). In the mouse, tissue-specific imprinting of Gnas, the mouse homolog of GNAS1, has been demonstrated in knockout mice with a null allele of Gnas (28). In addition to paternal imprinting in the renal cortex (the site of PTH action), but not in the renal medulla, Gnas was paternally imprinted in the brown and white adipose tissue. Heterozygous mice, inheriting the null allele from the mother, accumulated fat and became obese in early adulthood. Oppositely, mice inheriting the null allele from their father were leaner than normal, a situation dissimilar to the humans, where patients with paternal inheritance of Albrights hereditary osteodystrophy tend to also be obese. Further studies should address the question of adipocyte response to epinephrine in vivo and in vitro in individuals with Albrights hereditary osteodystrophy and normal PTH response (pseudo-PHP).
Decreased lipolytic activity has been implicated in common obesity, both in adults and in children. However, the mechanisms leading to a decreased activity of the key regulatory enzyme, hormone-sensitive lipase are not known (29). Studies in abdominal sc fat cells of relatives of obese adults suggest that this impairment lies downstream of cAMP production (15). Other studies point towards a decreased function of ß-adrenergic receptors in common obesity. The level of expression of ß2 receptors (30), as well as molecular variants of the ß2 (31) and ß3 receptors (32, 33, 34, 35, 36), have been discussed as possible mechanisms associated with obesity. Both ß1 and ß2 receptors are readily detectable on white adipose tissue in humans, whereas the expression of the ß3 receptor is low, detectable only by reverse transcriptase PCR (37, 38). The respective roles of these three receptors in epinephrine-induced lipolysis are still debated. Recent studies, using selective ß3-adrenergic receptor agonists in primate and human white adipose tissue, suggest that ß3 receptors might be major mediators of the lipolytic action of epinephrine (39). In our patients, Gs deficiency, a step that has not been considered in common obesity, is expected to reduce signal transduction from all types of ß-adrenergic receptors and could phenocopy other defects encountered in more common forms of obesity. In addition, it is conceivable that decreased Gs activity or mutations in GNAS1 could be implicated in common obesity, in the absence of the characteristic multihormonal resistance observed in PHP. In vitro data also support the fact that quantitative variations of Gs alter the efficacy of signal transduction to adenylyl cyclase (40, 41).
In conclusion, the lipolytic response to epinephrine is markedly decreased in patients with Gs deficiency and PTH resistance, extending the spectrum of hormonal resistance in Gs deficiency. Our findings also point out regulatory mechanisms preventing the massive accumulation of fat in these patients, at least during childhood. Besides ß-adrenergic receptors, Gs protein itself should be examined as a possible step involved in the decreased lipolysis observed in common obesity.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received January 5, 1999.
Revised July 20, 1999.
Accepted July 28, 1999.
| References |
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