Endocrine Abstracts

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a group of signs that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). MS includes at least 3 of these signs: central obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, fasting glucose disorders, and insulin resistance. The consumption of sugar drinks, a high-calorie diet, a sedentary lifestyle, and environmental pollutants such as arsenic increase the risk of developing MS. Arsenic affects beta-cell function and insulin secretion. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of SM induced by the additive effect of sucrose and arsenic on the expression Kv2 potassium channels (Kv2.1 and Kv2.2) in pancreatic islets. Male Wistar rats were treated with water (C), 20% sucrose (S), 50 mg/l sodium arsenite (A), or both (A+S) in drinking water for 8 weeks. We assessed the abundance of proteins by Western blot and expression genes for Kv2 channels by real-time qPCR. Previous work in our laboratory showed that S, A, and A+S groups developed hyperinsulinemia. However, only group A showed a reduction in Kv2 potassium current. In this work, we observed that the arsenic treatment decreased the abundance of the Kv2.1 channel but not of the Kv2.2 channel. However, the Kcnb1 gene expression didn’t change. Interestingly, there were no changes when the animals were treated with sucrose and arsenic. In conclusion, arsenic produces hyperinsulinemia through the abundance of proteins for the Kv2.1 channel.