MIF knockdown impairs glucose homeostasis

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a cytokine which affects carbohydrate metabolism and has been linked to obesity and insulin resistance. Serre-Beinier and colleagues have shown that MIF plays an active role in insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis for the first time, using MIF knockout mice. MIF deficiency affected body weight gain; mice had a lower body weight at birth, whilst after birth a higher body weight gain was observed compared to wild type mice, due to increased food intake. Older mice without the MIF gene had impaired glucose tolerance, with an age-dependent increase in fasting insulin levels being observed. This leads to an increase in glucose uptake which may explain the increased fat mass of older mice.

Whilst further work needs to be done to elucidate MIF’s mechanism of action, this study highlights the potential of MIF as a target for intervention in disease associated with abnormal glucose metabolism, including type 2 diabetes. Serre-Beinier et al. (2010) Journal of Endocrinology 206, 297-306.

Read full article at: DOI:10.1677/JOE-09-0342.