In order to evaluate the possible effects of hyperglycemia on CD36 expression in healthy subjects, an in vitro experiment was carried out using monocyte in three different conditions: extreme hyperglycemia (HG), euglycemia (EG) and in the absence of glucose.
Acute hyperglycaemia itself altered the expression of genes involved in fatty acid transport and oxidation [fatty acid transporter (CD36), LCAD (long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase) and FOXO1], and lipogenesis [LXRα, ChREBP (carbohydrate-responseelement-binding protein), ABCA1 (ATP-binding cassette transporter A1) and G6PD (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase).
Higher baseline CD36 expression in Type 2 diabetes could reflect increased post-transcriptional efficiency of CD36 mRNA in response to chronic hyperglycaemia and could be a proatherogenic mechanism in Type 2 diabetes.