Nicotine Tied to Insulin Response in Healthy Mice

reports that according to a study published in the journal Endocrinology, “acute nicotine exposure promoted insulin resistance in non-obese, nondiabetic mice, while chronic exposure increased insulin sensitivity.” Researchers arrived at that conclusion after subjecting “normal (male C57BL/6J) mice to acute (30 minutes at 0.2 mcg/g body weight) and chronic (same treatment daily over 10 weeks) nicotine treatment. In earlier studies, nicotine has been shown to induce anti-inflammation and improve glucose tolerance in insulin-resistant mice. In addition, nicotine treatment improved glucose homeostasis in an obese, diabetic mouse model. Although acute nicotine treatment creates a predisposition for hyperglycemia due to increased production of catecholamines and NO, the effects wear off over time, and chronic treatment changes the scenario by invoking PI-3-kinase/Akt/GSK-3-beta as well as IL-6/Stat3 pathways to enhance insulin action, inhibit CREB activity, and suppress gluconeogenic genes," the researchers wrote. http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/GeneralEndocrinology/47669