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Dietary composition of carbohydrates contributes to the development of experimental type 2 diabetes

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Abstract

Evidence has emerged supporting a link between high glycaemic index (GI) diets and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The aim of this study was to determine if dietary GI influences the development of hyperglycaemia in C57BL/6 mice to more closely reflect T2D. Male C57BL/6 mice (n=30) were randomly divided into 3 dietary groups consisting of either standard rodent chow (4.8 % fat, 20 % protein), or a high fat (HF) diet (21–23 % fat, 19 % protein) with low GI (15.4 % starch; HF-LG) or high GI (50.5 % dextrose; HF-HG) ad libitum for 10 weeks. Body weight, blood glucose, glucose tolerance, and circulating cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured for the duration of the study. We found that increasing the GI of a moderately HF diet induces severe hyperglycaemia and insulin resistance in C57BL/6 mice, reflective of criteria for diagnosis of T2D, whilst littermates consuming an equivalent low GI diet maintain glucose homeostasis. This study demonstrates the significant contribution of both dietary carbohydrate and fat composition in the aetiopathogenesis of T2D.

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Fig. 1

Abbreviations

T2D:

Type 2 diabetes

HF:

High fat

GI:

Glycaemic index

SAT:

Subcutaneous adipose tissue

VAT:

Visceral adipose tissue

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a Competitive Research Initiative Grant from James Cook University, Australia.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

All experiments were conducted in accordance with national guidelines and were approved by the institutional ethics committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infectious Diseases and Immunopathogenesis Research Group, School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    K. Hodgson, B. Govan, N. Ketheesan & J. Morris

Authors
  1. K. Hodgson
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  2. B. Govan
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  3. N. Ketheesan
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  4. J. Morris
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. Hodgson.

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Hodgson, K., Govan, B., Ketheesan, N. et al. Dietary composition of carbohydrates contributes to the development of experimental type 2 diabetes. Endocrine 43, 447–451 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-013-9874-5

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