Altered pancreatic growth and insulin secretion in WSB/EiJ mice

A Comprehensive Review on Preclinical Diabetic Models

BACKGROUND

Preclinical experimental models historically play a critical role in the exploration and characterization of disease pathophysiology. Further, these in-vivo and in-vitro preclinical experiments help in target identification, evaluation of novel therapeutic agents and validation of treatments.

INTRODUCTION

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a multifaceted metabolic disorder of multidimensional aetiologies with the cardinal feature of chronic hyperglycemia. To avoid or minimize late complications of diabetes and related costs, primary prevention and early treatment are therefore necessary. Due to its chronic manifestations, new treatment strategies need to be developed, because of the limited effectiveness of the current therapies.

METHODS

The study included electronic databases such as Pubmed, Web of Science and Scopus. The datasets were searched for entries of studies up to June, 2018.

RESULTS

A large number of in-vivo and in-vitro models have been presented for evaluating the mechanism of anti-hyperglycaemic effect of drugs in hormone-, chemically-, pathogen-induced animal models of diabetes mellitus. The advantages and limitations of each model have also been addressed in this review.

CONCLUSION

This review encompasses the wide pathophysiological and molecular mechanisms associated with diabetes, particularly focusing on the challenges associated with the evaluation and predictive validation of these models as ideal animal models for preclinical assessments and discovering new drugs and therapeutic agents for translational application in humans. This review may further contribute to discover a novel drug to treat diabetes more efficaciously with minimum or no side effects. Furthermore, it also highlights ongoing research and considers the future perspectives in the field of diabetes.

Reduced central and peripheral inflammatory responses and increased mitochondrial activity contribute to diet-induced obesity resistance in WSB/EiJ mice

Energy imbalance due to excess of calories is considered to be a major player in the current worldwide obesity pandemic and could be accompanied by systemic and central inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunctions. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the wild-derived diet-induced obesity- (DIO-) resistant mouse strain WSB/EiJ to the obesity-prone C57BL/6J strain. We analysed circulating and hypothalamic markers of inflammatory status and hypothalamic mitochondrial activity in both strains exposed to high-fat diet (HFD). We further analysed the regulations of hypothalamic genes involved in inflammation and mitochondrial pathways by high throughput microfluidic qPCR on RNA extracted from laser micro-dissected arcuate (ARC) and paraventricular (PVN) hypothalamic nuclei. HFD induced increased body weight gain, circulating levels of leptin, cholesterol, HDL and LDL in C57BL/6J whereas WSB/EiJ mice displayed a lower inflammatory status, both peripherally (lower levels of circulating cytokines) and centrally (less activated microglia in the hypothalamus) as well as more reactive mitochondria in the hypothalamus. The gene expression data analysis allowed identifying strain-specific hypothalamic metabolic pathways involved in the respective responses to HFD. Our results point to the involvement of hypothalamic inflammatory and mitochondrial pathways as key factors in the control of energy homeostasis and the resistance to DIO.

Enhancing face validity of mouse models of Alzheimer's disease with natural genetic variation

Classical laboratory strains show limited genetic diversity and do not harness natural genetic variation. Mouse models relevant to Alzheimer's disease (AD) have largely been developed using these classical laboratory strains, such as C57BL/6J (B6), and this has likely contributed to the failure of translation of findings from mice to the clinic. Therefore, here we test the potential for natural genetic variation to enhance the translatability of AD mouse models. Two widely used AD-relevant transgenes, APPswe and PS1de9 (APP/PS1), were backcrossed from B6 to three wild-derived strains CAST/EiJ, WSB/EiJ, PWK/PhJ, representative of three Mus musculus subspecies. These new AD strains were characterized using metabolic, functional, neuropathological and transcriptional assays. Strain-, sex- and genotype-specific differences were observed in cognitive ability, neurodegeneration, plaque load, cerebrovascular health and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Analyses of brain transcriptional data showed strain was the greatest driver of variation. We identified significant variation in myeloid cell numbers in wild type mice of different strains as well as significant differences in plaque-associated myeloid responses in APP/PS1 mice between the strains. Collectively, these data support the use of wild-derived strains to better model the complexity of human AD.

Genetics of metabolic syndrome: potential clues from wild-derived inbred mouse strains

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a complex constellation of metabolic abnormalities including obesity, abnormal glucose metabolism, dyslipidemia, and elevated blood pressure that together substantially increase risk for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of MetS, but this process is still far from understood. Human studies have revealed only part of the underlying basis. Studies in mice offer many strengths that can complement human studies to help elucidate the etiology and pathophysiology of MetS. Here we review the ways mice can contribute to MetS research. In particular, we focus on the information that can be obtained from studies of the inbred strains, with specific focus on the phenotypes of the wild-derived inbred strains. These are newly derived inbred strains that were created from wild-caught mice. They contain substantial genetic variation that is not present in the classical inbred strains, have phenotypes of relevance for MetS, and various mouse strain resources have been created to facilitate the mining of this new genetic variation. Thus studies using wild-derived inbred strains hold great promise for increasing our understanding of MetS.

Influence of gender and time diet exposure on endocrine pancreas remodeling in response to high fat diet-induced metabolic disturbances in mice

In this study, we investigated a possible sexual dimorphism regarding metabolic response and structural and functional adaptations of the endocrine pancreas after exposure to a high-fat diet (HFd). On chow diet, male and female C57BL/6/JUnib mice showed similar metabolic and morphometric parameters, except that female islets displayed a relatively lower β-cell:non-β-cell ratio. After 30 days on HFd, both male and female mice showed increased weight gain, however only the males displayed glucose intolerance associated with high postprandial glycemia when compared to their controls. After 60 days on HFd, both genders became obese, hyperglycemic, hyperinsulinemic, insulin resistant and glucose intolerant, although the metabolic changes were more pronounced in males, while females displayed greater weight gain. In both genders, insulin resistance induced by HFd feeding was compensated by expansion of β-cell mass without changes in islet cytoarchitecture. Interestingly, we found a strong correlation between the degree of β-cell expansion and the levels of hyperglycemia in the fed state: male mice fed a 60d-HFd, showing higher glycemic levels also displayed a greater β-cell mass increase in comparison with female mice. Additionally, sexual dimorphism was also observed regarding the source of β-cell mass expansion following 60d-HFd: while in males, both hypertrophy and hyperplasia (revealed by morphometry and Ki67 immunoreaction) of β-cells were observed, female islets displayed only a significant increase in β-cell size. In conclusion, this study describes gender differences in metabolic response to high fat diet, paralleled by distinct compensatory morphometric changes in pancreatic islets.

PWD/PhJ mice have a genetically determined increase in nutrient-stimulated insulin secretion

PWD/PhJ (PWD) is a wild-derived inbred mouse strain unrelated to commonly studied strains, such as C57BL/6J (B6). A chromosome substitution panel with PWD chromosomes transferred into the B6 background is commercially available and will facilitate genetic analysis of this strain. We have previously shown that the PWD strain is a model of primary fasting hyperinsulinemia. To identify more specific phenotypes affected by the genetic variation in PWD compared to B6 mice, we examined physiological mechanisms that may contribute to their elevated insulin levels. PWD mice had increased nutrient-stimulated insulin secretion due to factors inherent to their pancreatic islets. Insulin secretion responses to glucose, palmitate, and the metabolic intermediate α-ketoisocaproate were increased ~2-fold in islets from PWD mice compared to B6 islets. In contrast, there were no strain differences in processes affecting insulin secretion downstream of β cell depolarization. PWD mice tended to have larger but fewer islets than B6 mice, resulting in similar insulin-staining areas and insulin content per unit of pancreatic tissue. However, pancreata of PWD mice were smaller, resulting in reduced total β cell mass and pancreatic insulin content compared to B6 mice. Combined, these data suggest that the elevated fasting insulin levels in PWD mice result from increased generation of metabolic signals leading to β cell depolarization and insulin secretion. Identification of the genetic differences underlying the enhanced nutrient-stimulated insulin secretion in this model may lead to new approaches to appropriately modulate insulin secretion for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.