Anti-inflammatory properties of C-peptide. A new therapeutic strategy for reducing vascular damage in Type 1 diabetes patients
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: C-peptide, historically considered a biologically inactive peptide, has been shown to exert insulin-independent biological effects on a number of cells proving itself as a bioactive peptide with anti-inflammatory properties. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients typically lack physiological levels of insulin and C-peptide and are at increased risk of developing complications affecting the vessels of the eye, the kidneys, and the peripheral nerves. Inflammation is an important factor for the development of diabetes-associated vascular complications, and there is increasing evidence that T1D patients, even at a young age and after short duration of T1D, have circulating activated monocytes and increased plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines. It has been hypothesized that lack of circulating C-peptide might contribute to the development of diabetes-associated vascular complications by reducing the inflammatory response associated with T1D. In this study, we investigated the direct effect of C-peptide on several inflammatory processes of vascular damage, such as endothelial dysfunction and monocyte activation. In an hyperglycaemia-induced model of vascular dysfunction, we found that C-peptide exerted its beneficial effect on a variety of inflammatory events such as cytokines secretions, adhesion molecules expression, oxidative stress generation, and cellular proliferation. Finally, to gain insights on the cell biology of C-peptide, we investigated its process of from the cell surface and its sub-cellular localization in target cells. Our findings indicate that C-peptide internalization from the cell surface within membrane-bound organelles of the endocytic pathway and excluded direct translocation across the plasma membrane. The importance of this finding is that endosomes represent intracellular sites from which C-peptide affects key signaling pathways in target cell. The present evidences favor the view that replacement therapy with C-peptide in T1D patients has a critical public health impact for decreasing diabetic complications. In fact C-peptide therapy replacement offers an approach to retard the development of diabetes-associated vascular complications, for which no causal therapy is available today. Much of the burden of diabetes is due to the development of microvascular complications including retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy. The prevention and treatment of microvascular complications are of critical importance to decrease the associated mortality and morbidity.
Author: Vincenza Cifarelli
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W59310626