Children from diabetic pregnancies have a greater incidence of type 2 diabetes. Our objective was to determine if exposure to mild–moderate hyperglycemia, by modeling managed diabetic pregnancies, affects fetal β-cell function. In sheep fetuses, β-cell responsiveness was examined after 2 weeks of sustained hyperglycemia with 3 pulses/day, mimicking postprandial excursions, and compared to saline-infused controls (n=10). Two pulsatile hyperglycemia (PHG) treatments were studied: mild (mPHG,n=5) with +15% sustained and +55% pulse; and moderate (PHG,n=10) with +20% sustained and +100% pulse. Fetal glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and glucose-potentiated arginine insulin secretion were lower (P<0.05) in PHG (0.86±0.13 and 2.91±0.39 ng/ml plasma insulin) but not in mPHG fetuses (1.21±0.08 and 4.25±0.56 ng/ml) compared to controls (1.58±0.25 and 4.51±0.56 ng/ml). Islet insulin content was 35% lower in PHG and 35% higher in mPHG vs controls (P<0.01). Insulin secretion and maximally stimulated insulin release were also reduced (P<0.05) in PHG islets due to lower islet insulin content. Isolated PHG islets also had 63% greater (P<0.01) reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation at 11.1 mmol/l glucose than controls (P<0.01), but oxidative damage was not detected in islet proteins. PHG fetuses showed evidence of oxidative damage to skeletal muscle proteins (P<0.05) but not insulin resistance. Our findings show that PHG induced dysregulation of islet ROS handling and decreased islet insulin content, but these outcomes are independent. The β-cell outcomes were dependent on the severity of hyperglycemia because mPHG fetuses had no distinguishable impairments in ROS handling or insulin secretion but greater insulin content.
Quercetin potentiates insulin secretion and protects INS-1 pancreatic β-cells against oxidative damage via the ERK1/2 pathway
