Environmental arsenic as a disruptor of insulin signaling

Previous laboratory studies have shown that exposures to inorganic As (iAs) disrupt insulin production or glucose metabolism in cellular and animal models. Epidemiological evidence has also linked chronic human exposures to iAs to an increased risk of diabetes mellitus, a metabolic disease characterized by impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. We have recently shown that arsenite and its methylated metabolites inhibit insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in cultured adipocytes by disrupting insulin-activated signal transduction pathway and preventing insulin-dependent translocation of GLUT4 transporters to the plasma membrane. Here, we present results of follow-up studies using male C57BL/6 mice chronically exposed to arsenite (1 to 50 ppm As) or to its metabolite methylarsonite (0.1 to 5 ppm As) in drinking water for 8 weeks. Results of these studies show that only the exposure to arsenite at the highest level of 50 ppm As produces symptoms attributable to impaired glucose tolerance. Notably, tissue concentrations of iAs and its methylated metabolites in pancreas and in major glucose metabolizing tissues in mice in this exposure group were comparable to the concentrations of total As reported in livers of Bangladeshi residents exposed to much lower concentrations of iAs in drinking water. These results suggest that because mice clear iAs and its metabolites more rapidly than humans, much higher exposure levels may be needed in mouse studies to produce the diabetogenic effects of iAs commonly found in human populations exposed to iAs from environmental sources.