Out-of-phase treatment with the synthetic glucocorticoid betamethasone disturbs glucose metabolism in mice

Abstract

Objective

Endogenous glucocorticoid levels display a strong circadian rhythm, which is often not considered when synthetic glucocorticoids are prescribed as anti-inflammatory drugs. In this study we evaluated the effect timing of glucocorticoid administration, i.e. in-phase (administered when endogenous glucocorticoid levels are high) versus out-of-phase (administered when endogenous glucocorticoid levels are low). We investigated the synthetic glucocorticoid betamethasone – which is extensively used in the clinic - and monitored the development of common metabolic side effects in mice upon prolonged treatment, with a particular focus on glucose metabolism.

Methods

Male and female C57BL/6J mice were treated with the synthetic glucocorticoid betamethasone in-phase and out-of-phase, and the development of metabolic side effects was monitored.

Results

We observed that, compared with in-phase treatment, out-of-phase treatment with betamethasone results in hyperinsulinemia in both male and female C57BL/6J mice. We additionally found that out-of-phase betamethasone treatment strongly reduced insulin sensitivity as compared to in-phase administration during morning measurements. Our study shows that the adverse effects of betamethasone are dependent on the time of treatment with generally less side effects on glucose metabolism with in-phase treatment.

Conclusions

This study highlights differences in glucocorticoid outcome based on the time of measurement, advocating that potential circadian variation should be taken into account when studying glucocorticoid biology.