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Experimental Biology and Medicine 228:1250-1255 (2003)
© 2003 Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine

OBESITY AND DIABETES: PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS AND THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES

Hints of Western Medicine from Chinese Medicine

Hiromichi Okuda1

Department of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto 862-8502, Japan

Abstract

As a biochemist, I have been studying lipolytic and lipogenic pathways in fat cells since 1963. In 1966, I proposed a hormone-sensitive substrate theory in which catecholamines might not act on lipase but on substrate during their lipolytic processes. The lipolytic and lipogenic pathways are negative and positive processes in triglyceride content of fat cells. Insulin inhibits the negative process (lipolysis) and stimulates the positive process (lipogenesis from glucose). On the other hand, catecholamine stimulates the negative process and inhibits the positive one. These hormones discriminate the negative and positive rules and regulate opposite ways.

We tried to find these hormone-like substances in various natural products. We isolated tea saponins, chitosan, and others as insulin-like substances and dimethyl-xanthine as a catecholamine-like one. It is well known that extracellular fluid pH changes from 7.4 to 6.8. Reduction of the pH from 7.4 causes insulin resistance. Insulin failed to stimulate glucose uptake at pH 7.0 of the extracellular fluid. We found minus ions, which stimulated lipogenesis from glucose by raising extracellular fluid pH to 7.4. These are our approaches to find functional substances that prevent lifestyle-related diseases.

Key Words: lipolysis • lipogenesis • catecholamines • fat cell • Chinese medicine






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