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. 2012:2012:962012.
doi: 10.1155/2012/962012. Epub 2012 Jan 12.

Intermittent fasting modulation of the diabetic syndrome in streptozotocin-injected rats

Louiza Belkacemi  1 , Ghalem Selselet-Attou, Emeline Hupkens, Evrard Nguidjoe, Karim Louchami, Abdullah Sener, Willy J Malaisse
Affiliations

Intermittent fasting modulation of the diabetic syndrome in streptozotocin-injected rats

Louiza Belkacemi et al. Int J Endocrinol. 2012.

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of intermittent overnight fasting in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (STZ rats). Over 30 days, groups of 5-6 control or STZ rats were allowed free food access, starved overnight, or exposed to a restricted food supply comparable to that ingested by the intermittently fasting animals. Intermittent fasting improved glucose tolerance, increased plasma insulin, and lowered Homeostatis Model Assessment index. Caloric restriction failed to cause such beneficial effects. The β-cell mass, as well as individual β-cell and islet area, was higher in intermittently fasting than in nonfasting STZ rats, whilst the percentage of apoptotic β-cells appeared lower in the former than latter STZ rats. In the calorie-restricted STZ rats, comparable findings were restricted to individual islet area and percentage of apoptotic cells. Hence, it is proposed that intermittent fasting could represent a possible approach to prevent or minimize disturbances of glucose homeostasis in human subjects.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison between the changes in body weight over the last 30 days experimental period in IF and CR control or streptozotocin rats. Mean values (±SEM) refer to 5-6 individual measurements.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Glycemic profile during IPGTT conducted on day 10 (left), 20 (middle), and 29 (right) of the final experimental period in NF (upper panels), IF (middle panels), and CR (lower panels) control rats. Mean values (±SEM) refer to 5-6 individual experiments.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Glycemic profile during IPGTT conducted in NF (a), IF (b), and CR (c) STZ rats. Mean values (±SEM) refer to 15–20 individual experiments.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison between plasma insulin and D-glucose concentrations found at sacrifice in control (closed circles and solid line) and STZ (open circles and dashed line) rats. The two oblique lines correspond to the regression lines.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Insulin output by islets from NF control rats (open circles), IF control rats (closed circles), and CR control rats (open triangles) incubated at increasing concentrations of D-glucose. All results are expressed relative to the overall mean values recorded at the three concentrations of the hexose in each type of rats. Mean values (±SEM) refer to 10 (NF and CR rats) or 20 (IF rats) separate measurements, the SEM bar ending by an arrow whenever it exceeded the space to the next mean value. The solid line refers to the overall mean value recorded in the three groups of rats at each hexose concentration.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Immunodetection of insulin by the ABC-DAB technique in NF (a, d), IF (b, e), and CR (c, f) control (a, b, c) and STZ (d, e, f) rats.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Immunodetection of glucagon by the ABC-DAB technique in NF (a, d), IF (b, e), and CR (c, f) control (a, b, c) and STZ (d, e, f) rats.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Immunodetection of insulin using rhodamine-conjugated secondary antibody in NF (a, d), IF (b, e), and CR (c, f) control (a, b, c) and STZ (d, e, f) rats.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Detection of apoptotic β-cells by the TUNEL technique in insulin-stained pancreatic islet cells from NF (a, d), IF (b, e), and CR (c, f) control (a, b, c) and STZ (d, e, f) rats.
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