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A “futile cycle” induced by thiazolidinediones in human adipose tissue?

Nature Medicine volume 9, pages 811–812 (2003)Cite this article

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Guan et al. recently showed that glycerol kinase is induced by thiazolidinediones (TZDs) in isolated human adipocytes and in rodents1, resulting in a 'futile metabolic cycle' involving glycerol reutilization, thereby reducing nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) output from adipose tissue. This was proposed as a potential explanation for insulin sensitization by thiazolidinediones. Here, we present data challenging this hypothesis in humans.

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Figure 1: Response to rosiglitazone treatment in vivo and in vitro.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7LJ, UK

    Garry D Tan, Sandy M Humphreys, Keith N Frayn & Fredrik Karpe

  2. INSERM U449, R. Laennec Faculty of Medicine, Claude Bernard University of Lyon, Lyon, 69372, Cedex 08, France

    Cyrille Debard & Hubert Vidal

  3. Unité de Recherches sur les Obésités INSERM U586, Institut Louis Bugnard, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, 31403 Cedex 4, France

    Claire Tiraby & Dominique Langin

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  1. Garry D Tan
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Correspondence to Garry D Tan.

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Competing interests

The studies in humans were partly supported by GlaxoSmithKline. However, this is an investigator-led study and the company played no role in the collection or interpretation of the data, nor in the decision to publish this letter.

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Tan, G., Debard, C., Tiraby, C. et al. A “futile cycle” induced by thiazolidinediones in human adipose tissue?. Nat Med 9, 811–812 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0703-811

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