Figure 2
Metabolic characterization of obese pre-diabetic LH-21-treated mice. (A) Body weight changes during the two weeks of treatment with 3 mg/Kg LH-21. Body weight was not affected by the treatment and both vehicle- and LH-21-injected mice remained obese when compared to the control group. (B) Food intake was monitored daily, the line and the bar graphs represent the mean daily intake and the mean total intake of energy (Kcal), respectively, during the two week period. No changes in caloric intake was detected between vehicle- and LH-21-injected mice, both groups displaying a higher caloric intake than the control group. (C) Glucose tolerance was assessed by an i.p. GTT in fasted mice injected with 2 g/Kg glucose. AUC analysis for the entire time frame revealed glucose intolerance in both vehicle- and LH-21- injected mice, though lower plasma glucose levels were found in LH-21-injected mice at time point 30 minutes after glucose challenge (Student’s t test). (D) Insulin plasma levels in fasted mice as assessed by ELISA. 45% HFD-vehicle mice had higher insulinemia but not those treated with LH-21. (E) HOMA-IR was used as a subrrogate measure of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR = insulin (mU/l) × glucose (mmol/l)/22.5). 45% HFD-vehicle mice had higher HOMA-IR but not those treated with LH-21. (F) Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from islets isolated from obese pre-diabetic mice injected with vehicle or LH-21. Islets isolated from LH-21-treated mice secreted less insulin than those injected with vehicle with this difference being particularly marked in the high glucose condition. (A–E) n = 8–10 mice each group. One-way ANOVA and Bonferroni’s post-test, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 versus control; #p < 0.05 versus 45% HFD-Vehicle. (F) Islets from two different mice from each group, two independent experiments, n = 6 experimental wells for each condition, two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s post-test; *p < 0.05 versus 3 mM Glc, ##p < 0.01 and ###p < 0.001.
