Characterization of an animal model of high-fat diet, aging, and Streptozotocin induced Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

• Grant number: 21/08948-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2021
• End date: September 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nursing - Medical-Surgical Nursing
• Principal Investigator: Eliana Pereira de Araujo
• Grantee: Renan de Medeiros Bezerra
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Enfermagem. Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Obesity is a chronic, progressive disease and an important risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes affects more than 422 million people worldwide and with the aging of the population, the prevalence has increased dramatically. Studies of genes that contribute to the development of these diseases make it clear how complex the pathophysiology of chronic and multifactorial diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity is. Animal models that mimic what happens in humans are desirable to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms in search of possible treatments. There are several models available to investigate the pathophysiology of these diseases, however, all of them have limitations. In a pilot study, in which we studied the skin of aged C57BL/6 mice with diabetes, we found a significant increase in Caspase 8 in obese mice and a decrease in Arginase 1 in diabetics when compared to the control, suggesting that the apoptosis pathway is modulated in the skin of the different models. Therefore, we see the need to characterize the animal model of obesity, aging, and Streptozotocin-induced diabetes in terms of metabolic and molecular changes. Thus, C57BL/6 mice will be randomly divided into control, high-fat diet, and high-fat diet with Streptozotocin-induced diabetes. In addition, the animals will be evaluated when young (8 weeks) and aged (7 months) when they will be subjected to ipITT, ipGTT, weight control/food intake, and tissue extraction (skin, liver, pancreas, muscle, and white adipose tissue) for analysis of transcripts by real-time PCR and immunostaining related to the insulin signaling pathway. (AU)