Journal of clinical medicine
Effects of Metformin Treatment on Liver Glucose Metabolism-Related Enzyme Levels in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats
By Gül C, Kelle M, Kayhan Kaya H and 4 others.
Abstract
Background
Diabetes mellitus (DM) disrupts hepatic glucose handling and alters pathways involved in glycogen metabolism, glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and gluconeogenesis. This study examined hepatic glycogen content and glucose metabolism-related enzyme levels at defined stages of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes and evaluated the effect of metformin at week 8.
Methods
Sixty-three adult male Wistar Albino rats were initially allocated to nine groups (n = 7/group): four time-matched control groups (C1-C4), four untreated diabetic groups (D1-D4), and one metformin-treated diabetic group (T). Diabetes was induced with a single intraperitoneal dose of STZ (35 mg/kg). D1/C1, D2/C2, D3/C3, and D4/C4 were evaluated at weeks 1, 3, 6, and 8, respectively; T received metformin (100 mg/kg/day) in drinking water and was evaluated at week 8. One animal each in D3, D4, and T died spontaneously before the scheduled endpoint, leaving 60 animals for final analyses. Hepatic glycogen and glucose metabolism-related enzyme levels were measured by rat-specific sandwich ELISA.