Hypoglycemic effect of leucine in diet‐induced obese SD rat

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the hypoglycemic effect of leucine (Leu) in 6 month‐old Sprague‐Dawley (n=80) rats. One group of 10 rats was fed control diet (control group) and another group of 70 rats was fed a high‐fat diet for 14 wks (high‐fat group) to induce obesity. Ten rats of each group were killed at this stage and the remaining obese rats were then randomly blocked into 6 groups, according to body weight and raised with experimental diets containing different Leu levels (0g, 0.6g, 1.2g /kg BW) and dietary fat level (4%, 20%, w/w) for 5 wks. The levels of fasting blood glucose and fasting plasma insulin and glucagon were measured. HOMA‐indexes were calculated using fasting blood glucose and plasma insulin concentrations. The level of fasting blood glucose and HOMA‐indexes in 1.2g/kg Leu groups were significantly lower than 0g/kg Leu groups, and the levels of plasma insulin and glucagon in 1.2g/kg Leu groups were tended to be lower than 0g/kg Leu groups. In conclusion, the feeding of Leu might have hypoglycemic effect in diet‐induced obese SD rats.* This work was supported by Sungshin Cement Co., Ltd. of Seoul, Korea and the second stage of the Brain Korea 21 project in 2008.