myo-Inositol metabolism in 41A3 neuroblastoma cells: effects of high glucose and sorbitol levels.

Neuroblastoma cells were used to determine the effect of high carbohydrate and polyol levels on myo-inositol metabolism. The presence of elevated concentrations of glucose or sorbitol caused a significant decrease in both inositol accumulation and incorporation into phospholipid. These conditions, however, did not alter the accumulation of the other phospholipid head groups or the growth rate and water content of the cells. Two weeks of growth in either of the modified conditions was necessary to obtain a maximal effect on inositol incorporation. In contrast, growth in elevated concentrations of fructose, mannitol, or dulcitol had no effect on inositol metabolism. The reduced inositol accumulation and incorporation into lipids seen with glucose or sorbitol supplementation resulted in a decrease in the total phosphatidylinositol content of the cell without changing the levels of the other phospholipids. Kinetic analysis of cells grown in the presence of elevated glucose indicated that V'max for inositol uptake was significantly decreased with little change in the K'm. These data suggest that glucose decreases myo-inositol uptake in this system by noncompetitive inhibition. Cells grown in the presence of increased glucose also had elevated levels of intracellular sorbitol and decreased levels of myo-inositol. These results suggest that the high levels of glucose and sorbitol which exist in poorly regulated diabetes may be at least partially responsible for diabetic neuropathy via a reduction in the cellular content of myo-inositol and phosphatidylinositol. This system may be a useful model to determine the effect of reduced inositol phospholipid levels on neural cell function.