Regulation of skeletal muscle glucose metabolism by glucocorticoids

骨骼肌是一种代谢非常活跃的组织，占绝大多数的外周血糖的处理。血糖或葡萄糖进入骨骼肌的运动是由胰岛素和胰岛素独立途径（如肌肉接触）引起的。糖皮质激素是肾上腺皮质产生的一类激素。这些药物除了具有很强的抗炎特性外，还能改变骨骼肌的葡萄糖代谢。我的研究计划的总体目标是了解糖皮质激素如何介导这种作用，并确定氧化应激是否是一种潜在的机制。我们建议使用啮齿动物模型来确定糖皮质激素是否会损害胰岛素和收缩刺激的葡萄糖摄取，哪些特定的生化步骤被改变，糖皮质激素对参与这些过程的基因的影响，以及抗氧化治疗是否可以预防这些变化。这些研究的信息将增加我们对骨骼肌燃料代谢的基本认识，糖皮质激素的作用机制以及氧化应激在这些过程中的作用。

Skeletal muscle is a very metabolically active tissue and accounts for the vast majority of peripheral blood sugar disposal. The movement of blood sugar, or glucose, into skeletal muscle is caused by insulin and insulin independent pathways such as muscle contactions. Glucocorticoids are a class of hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex. In addition to possessing strong anti-inflammatory properties these agents also alter skeletal muscle glucose metabolism. The overall goal of my research program is to understand how glucocorticoids mediate this effect and to determine if oxidative stress is an underlying mechanism. Using rodent models we propose to determine if both insulin and contraction stimulated glucose uptake is impaired by glucocorticoids, what specific biochemical steps are altered, the effects of glucocorticoids on genes involved in these process and if antioxidant treatment can prevent these changes. The information from these studies will increase our fundamental understanding of skeletal muscle fuel metabolism, the mechanisms of action of glucocorticoids and the role of oxidative stress in these processes.