We assessed TxnIP mRNA/protein expression along with thioredoxin activity in human right atrial biopsy specimens from subjects with and without diabetes undergoing coronary artery grafting.
Thioredoxin and binding proteins (ASK1 and TBP2) appear to control apoptosis or metabolic states such as carbohydrate and lipid metabolism related to diseases such as diabetes and atherosclerosis.
Thioredoxin 2, a mitochondrion-specific thioredoxin whose role in diabetes was unknown, was suppressed in the aorta from rats with two weeks of diabetes.
These studies implicate reduced thioredoxin activity through interaction with Txnip as an important mechanism for vascular oxidative stress in diabetes mellitus.