Assessing Insulin and Glucose Tolerance in the Aging Mouse

Abstract

Basic preclinical research on the pathophysiology of aging-related and/or metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, largely relies on animal models. Mice, the most commonly used species to study the biological processes that regulate aging and its associated functional decline, have helped researchers to identify pathways, mechanisms, and genes that regulate aging-related diseases and aging itself and thus are intervention targets. Changes in energy metabolism are a central component of the biological processes that undergo significant alterations with age. For example, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance increases with aging. Not surprisingly, the characterization of these changes for metabolic phenotyping is commonly found in laboratories around the world. Glucose tolerance tests (GTT) and insulin tolerance tests (ITT) do not require surgery, are relatively easy to perform, and, most importantly, are minimally invasive and are thus the preferred method to evaluate glucose homeostasis in the aging animal. Both assays measure blood glucose following the bolus injection of either glucose (for GTT) or insulin (for ITT). Although they are standard procedures, the interpretation of both assays is strongly influenced by laboratory practices and variable experimental conditions. Here, we aim to provide simple guidelines that can be useful to standardize GTT and ITT in the aging mouse.