Characterization of Risk Factors for Modeling of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Induced by a High-Fat Diet in C57BL/6 Mice.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus develops due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. C57BL/6 mice prone to obesity and leptin resistance were kept on a high-fat diet for 21 weeks. The animals showed a significant increase in fasting and postprandial glucose levels and body weight, the development of insulin resistance, and by week 18, an increase in the serum TNFα level. Metformin therapy at a dose of 250 mg/kg was effective against the background of disturbances in carbohydrate metabolism: animals showed a significant decrease in insulin resistance and TNFα level.

Taxifolin Reduces Blood Pressure in Elderly Hypertensive Male Wistar Rats.

Male Wistar rats aged 10 months were assigned to groups according to the initial level of systolic BP: hypertensive (systolic BP >115 mm Hg) and normotensive (systolic BP <115 mm Hg). The animals were injected intraperitoneally with 100 µg/kg taxifolin daily for 7 days. Systolic BP and HR were measured on the next day after single taxifolin administration and on the next day after 7-day injection course. In the group of hypertensive animals, systolic BP markedly decreased on the next day after the first injection; this decrease became even more pronounced (to the level of normotensive animals) at the end of the taxifolin course. In the group of normotensive animals, systolic BP remained unchanged. Hence, we demonstrate the possibility of course administration of taxifolin for BP normalization in hypertensive patients.

Comparison of Biochemical Parameters and Pathomorphological Changes in Rats Receiving Standard and High-Fat Diets during Modeling of Streptozotocin Diabetes.

The use of a high-fat diet, along with streptozotocin administration, can provide more profound insight into the mechanism of development of complications in diabetes, as well as their treatment. High-fat diet given over 3 weeks before intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin in a dose of 40 mg/kg promoted the appearance of hyperglycemia in Wistar rats. The biochemical analysis of blood serum revealed increased levels of urea, triglycerides, cholesterol, AST, ALT, and concentration of inorganic phosphates and K+ ions in the high-fat diet group in comparison with the control. Both the biochemical analysis of the blood and histological analysis showed more pronounced abnormalities in rats receiving high-fat diet in comparison with animals receiving standard ration. These changes are the early markers for the development of nephropathy, impaired liver function, and microvascular disorders typical of patients with diabetes mellitus.

Effect of Standard and High-Fat Diets during Modeling of Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes in Rats on the Development of Complications.

For evaluation of the effect of high-fat diet on the development of diabetic complications, the rats were maintained on standard or high-fat diet. In 3 weeks, diabetes mellitus was modeled by single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. Changes in hematological parameters, physical and biochemical parameters of the urine, and in the development of thermal allodynia were different after 15-week standard and high-fat diets.

[Criteria for the effectiveness of interleukin-2 immunotherapy in a spontaneous murine mammary tumor model].

A novel approach is suggested to identify more homogenous subgroups involved in the follow-up of growth of spontaneous mammary tumors in mice (116, history-based analysis). That depends on subclinical period (preneoplastic and non-invasive stages of tumor growth) as well as rate of growth after clinical manifestation. An analysis of tumor growth rate versus survival of experimental and control animals after primary diagnosis and clinical manifestation of tumor showed that following a single peritumoral 2.5 x 10(6) IU IL-2 treatment tumor growth slowed down (n = 29; p < or = 0.05) while survival tended to improve. Originally fast-growing tumors without significant subclinical stage continued to grow but slowly. Females with such tumors survived longer than untreated controls without showing, however, any improvement on that parameter.