Abstract

 
 
 
 Purpose: To study the influence of sodium butyrate on the metabolism of lipid and glucose, insulin expression and apoptosis of β-cells in obese pregnant rats.
 Methods: Three groups of one hundred and twenty 4-week-old female C5BL/6J mice were used: control, high-fat diet and sodium butyrate groups. Insulin, triglycerides and total cholesterol were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Insulin levels, as well as area and quality of islet β-cells were assessed using Image Pro Plus software. The number of DAPI-positive islet cells, positive expression of bcl-2 in each islet cell, and apoptosis of islet β-cells in each group were determined.
 Results: The expression levels of insulin in high-fat diet group and butyrate group were significantly reduced, relative to control, but insulin expression level in Na butyrate group increased, relative to high- fat diet mice (p < 0.01). The area and quality of islet β-cells in high-fat diet and sodium butyrate groups were markedly higher in sodium butyrate group than in high-fat diet group (p < 0.01). The bcl-2 expression in islet β-cells rose in mice given high-fat diet, relative to control and sodium butyrate groups (p < 0.01).
 Conclusion: Sodium butyrate facilitates glucose and lipid metabolism, but increases insulin expression, and effectively inhibits apoptosis of islet β-cells in obese pregnant mice. Thus, sodium butyrate may be useful in the prevention and treatment of metabolic disorders due to diabetes mellitus (DM).
 
 
 
Highlights
With improvements in standards of living and changes in eating habits in recent years, the incidence of obesity is on the increase in modern industrialized societies [1]
It is of great clinical significance to search for drugs for the treatment of metabolic diseases such as diabetes, GDM and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) through mechanisms that involve restoration of islet β cells, improvement of the function of islet cells, and inhibition of apoptosis of islet β cells [4]
Sodium butyrate was originally used in studies related to transcriptional regulation of human tumors, but recent studies have found that it is useful in treatment of metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and inflammatory response-induced diseases [6]
Summary
With improvements in standards of living and changes in eating habits in recent years, the incidence of obesity is on the increase in modern industrialized societies [1]. 120 C5BL/6J female rats (4-week-old) were used to unravel the influence of sodium butyrate on glucose and lipid metabolism, insulin expression and apoptosis of pancreatic beta cells in obese pregnant rats. A total of 120, 4-week-old female C5BL/6J mice were purchased from the Animal Experimental Center of Shanxi Medical University (license No SCXK (Jin) 2009-0001) They were housed in a cage at temperature range of 18-22 °C, and humidity of 55 – 65 %. The mean of about 100 islets in each group was obtained at 400 magnification by measuring the islet area, and the number of positive DAPI staining area in the islet was calculated, i.e., the number of nuclei. Values of p < 0.05 indicated statistically significant differences
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