Glucagon receptor knockout mice are resistant to diet-induced obesity and streptozotocin-mediated beta cell loss and hyperglycaemia
Under normal physiological conditions, glucagon signalling is important in glucose homeostasis. Hyperglucagonaemia or altered insulin:glucagon ratio plays a role in maintaining hyperglycaemia in subjects with type 2 diabetes. It has been reported that glucagon receptor knockout (Gcgr (-/-)) mice dev...
Saved in:
Published in | Diabetologia Vol. 50; no. 1; pp. 142 - 150 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Berlin
Springer
01.01.2007
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Under normal physiological conditions, glucagon signalling is important in glucose homeostasis. Hyperglucagonaemia or altered insulin:glucagon ratio plays a role in maintaining hyperglycaemia in subjects with type 2 diabetes. It has been reported that glucagon receptor knockout (Gcgr (-/-)) mice develop normally and have lower plasma glucose on a normal diet. The goal of the current research was to further investigate the role of glucagon signalling in metabolic control and glucose homeostasis.
Gcgr (-/-) mice were challenged with a high-fat diet (HFD) and with streptozotocin, which induces beta cell damage. They were then analysed for whole-body and serum metabolic phenotypes as well as pancreatic islet morphology.
In comparison with wild-type mice, Gcgr (-/-) mice exhibited decreased body weight and food intake, reduced plasma glucose levels, and improved oral and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance. Elevated glucagon-like peptide-1 levels and reduced gastric emptying were also observed in Gcgr (-/-) mice, which also had reduced HFD-induced hyperinsulinaemia and hyperleptinaemia, and were resistant to the development of hepatic steatosis. In addition, Gcgr (-/-) mice were resistant to STZ-induced hyperglycaemia and pancreatic beta cell destruction.
This study demonstrates that blocking glucagon signalling by targeted Gcgr gene deletion leads to an improvement in metabolic control in this mouse model. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0012-186X 1432-0428 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00125-006-0481-3 |