Improvement with metformin in insulin internalization and processing in monocytes from NIDDM patients

This study investigated the relative effect of obesity alone and in combination with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) on the intracellular processing of insulin and evaluated the effect of metformin therapy on this process. Monocytes from 11 obese hyperinsulinemic subjects, 13 obese hyperinsulinemic NIDDM patients, and 7 nondiabetic control subjects were incubated with A14-125I-labeled insulin for 60 min at 37 degrees C, and intracellular insulin degradation was characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography. Total cell-associated insulin (insulin binding) and internalized and degraded insulin were decreased in obese subjects and significantly decreased in obese NIDDM patients compared with nondiabetic control subjects. In NIDDM patients, intracellular insulin degradation was inversely correlated with fasting plasma glucose (P less than 0.01). Eight obese subjects and 9 obese NIDDM patients were restudied after 4 wk of therapy with metformin (850 mg twice a day). Plasma levels of the drug were superimposable in the two groups. Metformin therapy did not change glucose and insulin levels in obese subjects but caused a decrease in blood glucose in obese NIDDM patients. Total cell-associated radioactivity (insulin binding) significantly increased in both groups (P less than 0.01). On the contrary, internalized radioactivity increased (0.83 +/- 0.3 vs. 1.31 +/- 0.35%, P less than 0.01), and similarly, insulin degradation was enhanced (54.6 +/- 8.9 vs. 74.22 +/- 9.15%, P less than 0.01) only in monocytes from obese NIDDM patients. However, the levels of these parameters were still lower than in control subjects (internalization, 2.94 +/- 0.68%; degradation, 93.03 +/- 3.7%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)