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Phenotypic characterization of a novel type 2 diabetes animal model in a SHANXI MU colony of Chinese hamsters

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Abstract

Purpose

Developing animal models for human diseases is critical for studying complex diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Since inbred colonies of Chinese hamsters tend toward spontaneous development of diabetes, we investigated them as a possible model.

Methods

We regarded individuals with fasting blood glucose (FBG) higher than 6.0 mmol/L and post-prandial blood glucose (PBG) higher than 7.0 mmol/L as diabetic based on the mean and 95% frequency distribution values of FBG and PBG. Diabetic hamsters were characterized based on metabolic profiles, histopathological features, and changes in the expression of genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism.

Results

Metabolic analyses showed that diabetic hamsters exhibited mild hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance. Histopathological analysis revealed that cell nuclei migrated inward in skeletal muscle and obvious partial liver lipid deposition and focal necrosis was found. We additionally observed mild injury, atrophy, and occasional vacuolization in islet cells. Changes in the expression of several genes related to glucose and lipid metabolism were observed. Decreased expression of adiponectin and GLUT4 and increased expression of PPARγ, Akt, and leptin was observed in skeletal muscle. Decreased expression of adiponectin with increased expression of PPARγ and leptin was observed in the liver.

Conclusions

These results indicate that we have established a spontaneous diabetic hamster line that closely mimics human T2DM, which may hold potential for further research on the pathogenesis and treatment of this disease.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Shanxi Province Experimental Animal Resources Service Platform of China (no. 201605D121019), the Shanxi Scholarship Council of China (no. 2015-054), and the Shanxi Medical University Youth Fund Project of China (no. 02201317).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory Animal Center of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Province, China

    Lu Wang, Chenyang Wang, Ruihu Zhang, Chunfang Wang, Guohua Song, Jingjing Yu & Zhaoyang Chen

  2. Shanxi Key Laboratory of Experimental Animal Science and Animal Model of Human Disease, Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Province, China

    Lu Wang, Chenyang Wang, Ruihu Zhang, Chunfang Wang, Guohua Song, Jingjing Yu & Zhaoyang Chen

  3. Department of Pharmacology, Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Province, China

    Yu Liu

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  1. Lu Wang
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Correspondence to Zhaoyang Chen.

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Wang, L., Wang, C., Zhang, R. et al. Phenotypic characterization of a novel type 2 diabetes animal model in a SHANXI MU colony of Chinese hamsters. Endocrine 65, 61–72 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-019-01940-x

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