The mechanism by which imeglimin inhibits gluconeogenesis in rat liver cells

Aims To understand the mechanism by which imeglimin (a new oral hypoglycemic agent whose phase 3 development program in Japan has now been completed) decreases hepatic glucose production. Materials and methods We compared the effect of imeglimin and metformin on glucose production, ATP/ADP ratio, oxygen consumption rate, mitochondrial redox potential and membrane potential in primary rat hepatocytes. Results We found that both imeglimin and metformin dose-dependently decreased glucose production and the ATP/ADP ratio. Moreover, they both increased mitochondrial redox potential (assessed by mitochondrial NAD(P)H fluorescence) and decreased membrane potential (assessed by TMRM fluorescence). However, contrary to metformin, which inhibits mitochondrial Complex I, imeglimin did not decrease the oxygen consumption rate in intact cells. By measuring the oxygen consumption of in situ respiratory chain as a function of the concentration of NADH, we observed that imeglimin decreased the affinity of NADH for the respiratory chain but did not affect its Vmax (ie competitive inhibition) whereas metformin decreased both the Vmax and the affinity (ie uncompetitive inhibition). Conclusions We conclude that imeglimin induces a kinetic constraint on the respiratory chain that does not affect its maximal activity. This kinetic constraint is offset by a decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential, which induces a thermodynamic constraint on the ATPase responsible for a decrease in the ATP/ADP ratio.

Automated summary

The study showed that imeglimin and metformin both decreased glucose production and ATP/ADP ratio, with imeglimin inducing a kinetic constraint on the respiratory chain while metformin acted through competitive and uncompetitive inhibition on the respiratory chain.