Page 1 of 51 Diabetes Intracrine testosterone activation in human pancreatic β cells stimulates insulin secretion. Weiwei Xu1, Lina Schiffer2, M.M. Fahd Qadir1, Yanqing Zhang1, James Hawley3, Paula Mota De Sa1 Brian G Keevil3, Hongju Wu1, Wiebke Arlt2,4, Franck Mauvais-Jarvis1,5 1Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, 2Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK; 3Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester National Health Service Foundation Trust, Manchester, M23 9LT, UK; 3National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, B15 3GW, UK; 2Southeast Louisiana Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; Running title: Intracrine testosterone metabolism and insulin secretion Tweet: Human pancreatic #betacells locally produce active androgens and estrogens from circulating testosterone to stimulates insulin production #diabetes @FMauvaisJarvis @TulaneMedicine *Correspondance: Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, MD, Ph.D. Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112, U.S.A. Email:
[email protected] 1 Diabetes Publish Ahead of Print, published online August 27, 2020 Diabetes Page 2 of 51 Abstract Testosterone (T) affects β cell function in men and women. T is a pro-hormone that undergoes intracrine conversion in target tissues to the potent androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT) via the enzyme 5α-reductase (5α-R), or to the active estrogen 17β-estradiol (E2) via the aromatase enzyme. Using male and female human pancreas sections, we show that the 5α-R type1 isoform (SRD5A1) and aromatase are expressed in male and female β cells.