Insulin as the main regulator of cellular glucose utilization - aetiological aspects of insulin resistance

Abstract

This review presents the advances in the molecular biology and the pathophysiology of insulin resistance with emphasis on disturbances in cellular glucose transport. New scientific information about the structure and function of glucotransporters from the GLUT4 and SLGT families underline their significance in endocrinopathies and metabolic disease pathogenesis as related to insulin resistance. The new discoveries in this area also contribute to a better understanding of the regulation of insulin receptor and post-receptor reactivity by hormones and by drugs. They refer to the regulation of glycaemia and to its disturbances in diabetes mellitus, particularly of type 2, to metabolic syndrome, and, in general, to the pathogenesis of many syndromes and clinical disturbances caused by insulin resistance. Impairment of cellular glucose transport may be one of the primary aetiological factors in this respect. Therefore, studies of cellular glucotransporters expression and function promise new clinical and pharmacotherapeutic developments. Progress in this area has already been transformed into many practical proposals which are improving clinical practice. (Pol J Endocrinol 2010; 61 (4): 388-394)