
Pimozide Alleviates Hyperglycemia in Diet-Induced Obesity by Inhibiting Skeletal Muscle Ketone Oxidation.
Perturbations in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism contribute to obesity-induced type 2 diabetes (T2D), though whether alterations in ketone body metabolism influence T2D pathology is unknown. We report here that activity of the rate-limiting enzyme for ketone body oxidation, succinyl-CoA:3-ketoacid-CoA transferase (SCOT/Oxct1), is increased in muscles of obese mice. We also found that the diphenylbutylpiperidine pimozide, which is approved to suppress tics in individuals with Tourette syndrome, is a SCOT antagonist. Pimozide treatment reversed obesity-induced hyperglycemia in mice, which was phenocopied in mice with muscle-specific Oxct1/SCOT deficiency. These actions were dependent on pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH/Pdha1) activity, the rate-limiting enzyme of glucose oxidation, as pimozide failed to alleviate hyperglycemia in obese mice with a muscle-specific Pdha1/PDH deficiency. This work defines a fundamental contribution of enhanced ketone body oxidation to the pathology of obesity-induced T2D, while suggesting pharmacological SCOT inhibition as a new class of anti-diabetes therapy.
Duke Scholars
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Related Subject Headings
- Streptozocin
- Pimozide
- Oxidation-Reduction
- Obesity
- Muscle, Skeletal
- Mice
- Male
- Ketones
- Hypoglycemic Agents
- Hyperglycemia
Citation

Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Streptozocin
- Pimozide
- Oxidation-Reduction
- Obesity
- Muscle, Skeletal
- Mice
- Male
- Ketones
- Hypoglycemic Agents
- Hyperglycemia