Growth hormone improves body composition, fasting blood glucose, glucose tolerance and liver triacylglycerol in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity and type 2 diabetes

Abstract

Aims/hypothesis Growth hormone has been used experimentally in two studies to treat individuals with type 2 diabetes, with both reporting beneficial effects on glucose metabolism. However, concerns over potential diabetogenic actions of growth hormone complicate its anticipated use to treat type 2 diabetes. Thus, an animal model of type 2 diabetes could help evaluate the effects of growth hormone for treating this condition. Methods Male C57BL/6J mice were placed on a high-fat diet to induce obesity and type 2 diabetes. Starting at 16 weeks of age, mice were treated once daily for 6 weeks with one of four different doses of growth hormone. Body weight, body composition, fasting blood glucose, insulin, glucose tolerance, liver triacylglycerol, tissue weights and blood chemistries were determined. Results Body composition measurements revealed a dosedependent decrease in fat and an increase in lean mass. Analysis of fat loss by depot revealed that subcutaneous and mesenteric fat was the most sensitive to growth hormone treatment. In addition, growth hormone treatment resulted in improvement in glucose metabolism, with the highest dose normalising glucose, glucose tolerance and liver triacylglycerol. In contrast, insulin levels were not altered by the treatment, nor did organ weights change. However, fasting plasma leptin and resistin were significantly decreased after growth hormone treatment. Conclusions/interpretation Growth hormone therapy improves glucose metabolism in this mouse model of obesity and type 2 diabetes, providing a means to explore the molecular mechanism(s) of this treatment.

Hypothesis: Extra-hepatic acromegaly: a new paradigm?

“…Body weight and composition, fasting blood glucose, insulin and IGF1 levels, glucose tolerance, liver triacylglycerol, tissue weights, and blood chemistries were determined. Several important findings were reported (9). First, a GH dose-dependent decrease in fat and an increase in lean mass were found.…”

“…A mouse model attempting to determine the effect of GH on diet-induced type 2 diabetes parameters has been presented (9). In this model, male C57BL/6J mice were placed on a high-fat diet to induce obesity and type 2 diabetes.…”

Plasma biomarkers of mouse aging

“…Body composition was measured using the Bruker Minispec NMR analyzer (The Woodlands, TX, USA) as described previously (List et al 2009;Palmer et al 2009). The absolute mass (grams) of lean mass, fat mass, and fluid mass of each animal was measured twice with the mean value reported.…”

Acromegalia: una nuova prospettiva fisiopatologica dai tessuti periferici?

“…Solo due studi hanno documentato effetti benefici del GH sul metabolismo del glucosio in pazienti con diabete di tipo 2. È stato realizzato un modello murino, utilizzando topi maschi C57BL/6J, per spiegare gli effetti del GH sul diabete di tipo 2 e l'obesità, indotti dalla dieta ad alto contenuto di lipidi [2]. Durante gli studi, i topi sono stati trattati con differenti dosi di GH valutando il peso e la composizione corporea, la glicemia a digiuno, l'insulinemia e l'IGF-I, la tolleranza al glucosio, il triacilglicerolo epatico, il peso di singoli tessuti e altri dati di laboratorio.…”