Oxidative stress is produced under diabetic conditions and is likely involved in progression of pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction found in diabetes. Possibly due to low levels of antioxidant enzyme expressions, beta-cells are vulnerable to oxidative stress. When beta-cell-derived cell lines or isolated rat islets were exposed to oxidative stress, insulin gene expression was markedly decreased. Furthermore, when diabetic C57BL/ KsJ-db/db mice were treated with antioxidants, glucose tolerance was ameliorated. Histological analyses of the pancreata revealed that the beta-cell mass is significantly larger in the mice treated with the antioxidants. The antioxidant treatment also preserved the amounts of insulin content and insulin mRNA. As a possible mechanism underlying the phenomena, expression of pancreatic and duodenal homeobox factor-1 (PDX-1), an important transcription factor for the insulin gene, was more clearly visible in the nuclei of islet cells after the antioxidant treatment. Furthermore, oxidative stress induces nucleocytoplasmic translocation of PDX-1 through activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway, which leads to suppression of insulin gene expression. Taken together, oxidative stress and consequent activation of the JNK pathway are involved in progression of beta-cell dysfunction found in diabetes, and thus are a therapeutic target for diabetes.
