Inhibition of intestinal villus cell Na/K‐ATPase mediates altered glucose and NaCl absorption in obesity‐associated diabetes and hypertension

ABSTRACT During obesity, diabetes and hypertension inevitably coexist and cause innumerable health disparities. In the obesity, diabetes, and hypertension triad (ODHT), deregulation of glucose and NaCl homeostasis, respectively, causes diabetes and hypertension. In the mammalian intestine, glucose is primarily absorbed by Naglucose cotransport 1 (SGLT1) and coupled NaCl by the dual operation of Na‐H exchange 3 (NHE3) and Cl‐HCO 3 [down‐regulated in adenoma (DRA) or putative anion transporter 1 (PAT1)] exchange in the brush border membrane (BBM) of villus cells. The basolateral membrane (BLM) Na/K‐ATPase provides the favorable transcellular Na gradient for BBM SGLT1 and NHE3. How these multiple, distinct transport processes may be affected in ODHT is unclear. Here, we show the novel and broad regulation by Na/K‐ATPase of glucose and NaCl absorption in ODHT in multiple species (mice, rats, and humans). In vivo , during obesity inhibition of villus‐cell BLM, Na/K‐ATPase led to compensatory stimulation of BBM SGLT1 and DRA or PAT1, whereas NHE3 was unaffected. Supporting this new cellular adaptive mechanism, direct silencing of BLM Na/K‐ATPase in intestinal epithelial cells resulted in selective stimulation of BBM SGLT1 and DRA or PAT1 but not NHE3. These changes will lead to an increase in glucose absorption, maintenance of traditional coupled NaCl absorption, and a de novo increase in NaCl absorption from the novel coupling of stimulated SGLT1 with DRA or PAT1. Thus, these novel observations provide the pathophysiologic basis for the deregulation of glucose and NaCl homeostasis of diabetes and hypertension, respectively, during obesity. These observations may lead to more efficacious treatment for obesity‐associated diabetes and hypertension.—Palaniappan, B., Arthur, S., Sundaram, V. L., Butts, M., Sundaram, S., Mani, K., Singh, S., Nepal, N., Sundaram, U. Inhibition of intestinal villus cell Na/K‐ATPase mediates altered glucose and NaCl absorption in obesity‐associated diabetes and hypertension. FASEB J. 33, 9323–9333 (2019). www.fasebj.org