Pioglitazone Treatment for 7 Days Failed to Correct the Defect in Glucose Transport and Glucose Transporter Translocation in Obese Zucker Rat (fa/fa) Skeletal Muscle Plasma Membranes

Insulin resistance in the obese (fa/fa) Zucker rat is associated with decreased insulin stimulated glucose transport in skeletal muscle, due primarily to a failure of insulin to stimulate GLUT4 translocation to the plasma membrane from an intracellular pool (1). The thiazolidinedione analog Pioglitazone (PIO) has been shown to improve glucose tolerance in this and other animal models of insulin resistance. The current study was designed to determine whether 7 days of Pioglitazone treatment (20 mg/kg/day by gavage) would improve glucose transport and/or glucose transporter translocation and intrinsic activity in plasma membranes prepared from hindlimb skeletal muscle of obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats. Basal plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in these animals were unchanged by Pioglitazone, while basal plasma triglyceride and nonesterified fatty acid concentrations (NEFA) were reduced by Pioglitazone treatment (501±88 vs 161±13 mg/dl, P