Differences in the development of the obese-hyperglycemic syndrome in obob and NZO mice

Abstract

Marked differences were shown in the development of the obese-hyperglycemic syndrome in NZO and obob mice. - In NZO mice glucose tolerance decreases continuously with increasing age and body weight. - In obob mice three phases in the development of the obese-hyperglycemic syndrome are differentiated. In the first, dynamic phase glucose tolerance decreases and insulin secretion increases as does body weight. The intermediary or transitional phase, when the animals weigh about 55 g, is characterised by rapidly changing glucose patterns, i. e. an extremely poor glucose tolerance and extremely high serum insulin level is followed by improving glucose tolerance and decreasing insulin levels. In the third, static phase blood sugar values and serum insulin levels have nearly returned to those of the lean littermates. Body weight slowly decreases. The changes in glucose tolerance and serum insulin are parallelled by changes in islet cell morphology. The gluconeogenic capacity is increased during the dynamic and transitional phases, it declines during the static phase. © 1970 Springer-Verlag.