Abstract:  The emerging epidemics of obesity and diabetes have been recognized as major public health problems worldwide, and the primary etiology is an elevation of blood glucose and lipid levels resulting from an imbalance in energy availability and expenditure. Numerous reports have underscored that insects can be used as in vivo model organisms for human metabolic disorders, such as identification of evolutionarily conserved hormones (such as insulin-like peptide and adipokinetic hormone), signaling networks (such as target of rapamycin signaling pathway), and analogous organs or tissues (such as midgut and fat body) that regulate carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in arthropods and mammals. Here, we reviewed the regulatory mechanism of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in insects, which involves the physiological function of the fat body and oenocytes, the antagonism between insulin-like peptide and adipokinetic hormone on hemolymph glucose regulation, the insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway (IIS) participated in nutrient metabolism and the cholesterol metabolism associated with steroid hormone synthesis, and also summarized the recent findings on Drosophila genes related with carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. This review will provide reference information for insect physiology and contribute to a better understanding of human metabolic disorders.  

Key words: Insect, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, signaling pathway, gene regulation, human disease model