Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 expression and insulin resistance in skeletal muscle of obese and type 2 diabetic patients

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) could be a possible mediator of insulin resistance. We investigated whether IL-6 could inhibit insulin signaling in human skeletal myotubes and whether suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS-3) could be related to insulin resistance in vivo in humans. IL-6 inhibited insulin signaling and induced SOCS-3 expression in differentiated myotubes. SOCS-3 mRNA levels were significantly increased in the skeletal muscle of type 2 diabetic patients compared with control subjects and correlated with reduced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. In contrast, SOCS-3 mRNA levels were reduced in muscle of obese nondiabetic subjects compared with type 2 diabetic patients, despite similar circulating concentrations of IL-6. Increased SOCS-3 mRNA levels in diabetes were not attributable to hyperglycemia, as type 1 diabetic patients had normal SOCS-3 mRNA expression in muscle. However, the combination of high glucose and IL-6 levels in type 2 diabetic patients may induce SOCS-3 expression, as has been seen in human muscle cells. In subcutaneous adipose tissue, SOCS-3 mRNA levels were increased in obese individuals and strongly correlated with IL-6 expression, supporting a paracrine effect of IL-6 on SOCS-3 expression in fat. Taken together, our results showed that SOCS-3 expression in human skeletal muscle in vivo is not related to insulin resistance in the presence of elevated IL-6 concentrations and suggest that cytokine action could differ in type 2 diabetic patients and nondiabetic obese subjects.